The EU will hit back at the US with countermeasures if 10 percent tariffs remain after talks with Trump, that’s the warning from Sweden’s Trade Minister.
“If the UK-US deal is what Europe gets, then the US can expect countermeasures from our side”, Swedish minister, Benjamin Dousa, said ahead of a meeting in Brussels.
EU trade ministers have been discussing how talks with the US have been progressing with the European Trade Commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič.
Tánaiste Simon Harris was there to represent Ireland.
The Tánaiste warned that nearly half of Trump’s 90-day pause has already passed and it was now time to get serious.
“It’s now 37 days into the 90 day pause that has been put in place in relation to the higher rates of tariffs and the reason I mentioned that is we’re nearly at the halfway point of the pause, and therefore there isn’t a moment to lose in terms of getting into substantive engagements between the EU and the US.”
Šefčovič said that he was aiming to achieve a comprehensive deal with the US which would both fix the current tariff threats, but also, he said, lay the groundwork for “long term benefits”, a signal that the EU wants to do a wider trade deal with the US.
If talks fail, the European Commission has prepared €95 billion in countermeasures to hit US exports.
EU member states including Ireland are now lobbying for which goods end up on that list so that, if it is used, the economic pain to Ireland’s economy is minimised.
“This is a list that has nearly 5,000 items on it in terms of tariff lines. It runs to about 200 pages. So we’re still analysing this across government, across our state agencies”, said Simon Harris.
But he admitted that Ireland was pushing back already on behalf of some industries.
“My initial sense is that things around agri-foodand medtech and potentially around aviation are particular causes of concern and impact for Ireland”, he warned.
The UK has already reached a deal with the US to do away with the Trump tariffs on steel, aluminium and cars. But an across-the-board 10 percent US tariff on UK goods will remain.
Poland which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Council said that it was essential that an EU-US “deal needs to be fair and balanced”.