EU responds to Trump with own tariff hike on €26 billion worth of American exports

The European Commission has announced that it is introducing its own import duties on American products in response to Donald Trump’s 25 percent import tariffs on European steel and aluminum, which took effect on Wednesday. Various Dutch financial institutions warned that a trade war would be detrimental to the Netherlands as a trade country.

The European Union’s tariff hikes will apply to up to 26 billion euros in American goods exports and will take effect in two steps. First, the EU will reimplement existing countermeasures against the U.S. from 2018 and 2020 on April 1. “These countermeasures target a range of US products that respond to the economic harm done on €8 billion of EU steel and aluminium exports,” the Commission said.

Second, the Commission will implement a new package of countermeasures on U.S. exports in mid-April, following consultation with the EU Member States and other stakeholders. These measures are in response to American tariffs affecting over 18 billion euros of EU exports.

“We deeply regret this measure,” said the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. “Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy. Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. In Europe and in the United States.”

Netherlands and other European residents can expect to pay more for American products like bourbon, jeans, boats, and Harley Davidson motorcycles.

In December, the Dutch central bank DNB urged the EU not to retaliate to Trump’s import tariffs, warning that a trade war could be very detrimental to the Netherlands as a trade country. If there is a trade war, the growth of the Dutch economy will fall sharply in 2025 and especially in 2026. ABN Amro warned that the American tariffs could halve Dutch food exports to the U.S., while Robobank warned of higher inflation in the Netherlands.

The U.S. is an important trade partner for the Netherlands. America is the biggest importer of Dutch steel, importing some 700 million euros of the metal from the Netherlands last year. Tata Steel alone exports approximately 800,000 to 900,000 tons of steel per year to the U.S., about 12 percent of the IJmuiden factory’s total production.