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The European Commission vowed to retaliate against Donald Trump’s ordered tariffs of 25% on all US steel and aluminium imports on Tuesday, claiming that the “unjustified” duties will lead to “firm and proportionate countermeasures”.
“I deeply regret the US decision to impose tariffs on European steel and aluminium exports,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
“Unjustified tariffs on the EU will not go unanswered – they will trigger firm and proportionate countermeasures,” she added, noting Brussels will “safeguard” the interests of its companies and citizens.
The statement came just hours after Trump signed an executive order introducing duties of 25% on all US steel and aluminium imports. The duties are set to come into force on 12 March.
“Our nation requires steel and aluminium to be made in America, not in foreign lands,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump added that the levies will incentivise companies to move industrial production to the US. He also hinted that, much like previously threatened blanket 25% duties threatened on Mexico and Canada, they may not come into force.
“There’s not going to be any tariffs: the foreign companies will move to the United States and make their steel and aluminium in the United States,” he said.
The duties will heavily impact Canada, which is overwhelmingly the US’s top supplier of aluminium and steel. Mexico, which was the second-largest exporter of steel and the third-largest exporter of aluminium to the US last year, will also be seriously affected.
Trump’s protectionist policies are also likely to exacerbate the problems afflicting Europe’s steel sector, which is already suffering from a combination of high energy prices and growing competition from cheap Chinese exports.
Total EU exports of finished steel fell from 29 million metric tonnes in 2014 to 16 million in 2023, according to the European Steel Association (Eurofer). Average exports of EU finished steel to the US fell from 3.3 million to 2.2 million from 2014-2018 to 2019-2024.
On Sunday, Trump also threatened to impose “reciprocal tariffs” on all countries who impose duties on US imports. He said that these tariffs will be formally announced on Tuesday or Wednesday.
A Commission spokesperson said it believed there was no justification for these threatened duties either.
“We believe that none of the potential measures outlined by the US administration to date are justified,” the spokesperson said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also said on Tuesday that the EU “will react unanimously” to any US duties.
“As the largest market in the world with 450 million citizens and residents, we have the strength to do so,” Scholz said, adding that he hoped a trade war could be averted.
“Trade wars always end up costing both sides prosperity,” he said.
In a statement, the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU (AmCham EU) vehemently condemned the tariffs and called for the EU to be made “permanently exempt” from the duties.
In a veiled reference to China, AmCham EU also said Washington and Brussels should “work together to tackle the real issue at hand: global overcapacity caused by unfair trading practices in third countries”.
Trump’s first term in the White House was marked by a similar trade spat with the EU, when he imposed duties of 25% of steel and 10% on aluminium. The EU retaliated by imposing tariffs on €2.8 billion worth of US goods, including bourbon, Levi jeans, and Harley-Davidson motorbikes.
The duties were suspended under the Biden administration but were set to re-enter into force on 31 March.
The Commission’s retaliatory duties to Trump’s latest salvo are likely to come within one or two weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.
Nick Alipour, Jonathan Packroff, and Alexandra Brzozowski contributed reporting.
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