EU vows swift, firm response to US tariff policy

The European Union has pushed back against US President Donald Trump's threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on the bloc's exports to the United States, as well as his accusation that the 27-nation bloc was out to get the US.

Speaking to reporters after chairing his first Cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said, "We have made a decision and we'll be announcing it very soon, and it'll be 25 percent, generally speaking, and that'll be on cars, and all of the things."

The president repeated his longstanding criticism that Europe had been taking advantage of the US. "They don't accept our cars. They don't accept essentially our farm products. And we accept everything from them."

He also alleged that the EU was established to "screw" the US.

"Look, let's be honest, the European Union was formed in order to screw the United States. That's the purpose of it, and they've done a good job of it. But now I'm president," he said.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, quickly responded with strong messages.

"The EU will react firmly and immediately against unjustified barriers to free and fair trade, including when tariffs are used to challenge legal and nondiscriminatory policies," a commission spokesperson said.

The spokesperson described the EU as "a boon" for the US, adding that the EU single market "has facilitated trade, reduced costs for US exporters, and harmonized standards and regulations across 27 countries".

According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, US' total goods trade with the EU was estimated at $975.9 billion last year, with EU exports to the US hitting $605.8 billion, pushing up the trade surplus by 12.9 percent over the previous year.

A Bloomberg report said Trump's tariffs could hit as much as $29.3 billion of EU exports.

Trump's threat followed French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Washington, where he sought to persuade Trump to support Ukraine and exempt the EU from tariff wars.

On Wednesday, Macron briefed EU leaders via a video conference on his meeting with Trump. He also held talks with Friedrich Merz, the likely next German chancellor, in Paris.

German carmakers have been struggling to cope with potential US punitive tariffs. Mercedes-Benz and Audi have both talked about expanding their output in North America to shield themselves from the tariffs.

Commenting on the latest developments, former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt said Trump "has a seriously distorted view of history".

"Now he claims the EU was set up'to screw the United States'. It was actually set up to prevent war on the European continent," Bildt wrote on X.

Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the New York-based think tank Council on Foreign Relations, warned that Trump's tariffs could cause chaos for US pharmaceutical companies.

"If the tariff on the EU is going to be 25 percent — as Donald Trump suggested today — I will enjoy seeing the frantic efforts by US pharmaceutical companies to find a way around the new import tax," he wrote on X.

EU leaders meeting on March 6 for an emergency summit are expected to focus on Ukraine, but are now likely to talk about the tariffs, too.

The bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who visited Washington on Wednesday and Thursday, was told that she would not meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio "due to scheduling issues", according to a European Commission spokesperson.

Leaders including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have not publicly commented on the tariffs. The commission presented its Clean Industrial Deal on Wednesday, a plan aimed at supporting the competitiveness and resilience of the EU industry.

"The deal will accelerate decarbonization while securing the future of manufacturing in Europe," the commission said.

chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn