EU targets US aircraft and car exports in new list of potential tariffs

Source: The Guardian

Thu 8 May 2025 10.46 EDT
First published on Thu 8 May 2025 09.17 EDT


The EU is considering imposing tariffs on US aircraft and car exports in a fresh attempt to persuade Donald Trump to drop his current and proposed tariffs against the EU. If acted on they will hit Boeing hard but also include further categories of US exports including chemicals, electrical equipment including cameras, health-related products and some foods such as sweet potato and nuts.

At the same time Brussels has launched a consultation with member states on potential litigation against the US over the blanket 20% reciprocal tariffs the US president announced last month. As the EU prepared for the possibility of a prolonged transatlantic trade war, Trump reached an agreement with the UK and appeared to softened his position on China.

The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and Washington’s chief trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer, are due to meet China’s vice-premier, He Lifeng, in Switzerland on Saturday for talks that could be the first step toward resolving the trade war between the two countries. Trump, speaking at the White House as he announced a deal with the UK, said the EU treated the US “extremely unfairly”, and claimed the trade deal between the US and UK was possible “because of Brexit”.

“The European Union treated us extremely unfairly … and hurt themselves in doing so,” Trump said. “They very much want to make a deal. We’ll be dealing with them. We are dealing with them currently. This was separate because of Brexit in particular,” he said of the UK deal. The EU said its new list of potential tariff targets was designed as preparation for a scenario in which some or all US tariffs remained after July – Trump’s deadline for deals.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/may/08/eu-targets-us-aircraft-and-car-exports-in-new-list-of-potential-tariffs