Trump Pushes for Tougher EU Trade Terms, Prompting Retaliation Threats – WSJ
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal on Sunday, U.S. officials have informed the European Union that President Donald Trump is expected to demand greater concessions in upcoming trade talks, including a baseline tariff of 15% or more on most European imports.
The news reportedly caught EU negotiators off guard, as they had been preparing for a 10% tariff threshold. The shift has caused Germany, which had been advocating compromise, to align more closely with France’s harder stance, the report said.
In response, EU member states are urging the European Commission to draft countermeasures. These may include tariffs on U.S. goods, restrictions on American digital services, and limits on U.S. access to European public procurement markets.
The EU is also considering invoking its rarely used “anti-coercion” instrument, which allows the bloc to implement retaliatory trade and investment measures in response to external economic pressure.
Despite escalating tensions, both sides still aim to reach an agreement before Trump’s August 1 deadline. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick voiced optimism on Sunday, though European diplomats cautioned that a failure to strike a deal would lead to consequences that “will hurt everyone involved.”
The report noted that more than $5 billion in goods and services are exchanged daily between the U.S. and EU, underscoring the global importance of the ongoing dispute.
