What levers does the EU have on Trump’s duties? There is also a digital tax in the game

8. Apr 2025 at 17:47

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US President Donald Trump He unleashed in early April Business War to all the cardinal points. For almost all goods and services from Europe, it has imposed 20 % and even 25 % duty on cars, aluminum and steel.

US tariffs will hit up to 70 percent of the European Union’s exports to the US in the amount of EUR 380 billion. European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič in recent weeks he has tried to rely on the US to alleviate duties, but failed.

« Trump suits the world where the laws of the jungle with the right of a stronger one, who in the case of the weaker opponent, will be valid, » said former Finance Minister Ivan Miklos in an interview for the Index.

According to him, the US as an economically strongest country in the world can dictate conditions and profit from it: « It is a perverse logic, but Trump apparently thinks like this. »

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So far, the EU does not intend to take the « eye for the eye » and does not plan the same retaliation for US imports to Europe. Passive, however, also does not intend. In the media and lobbies, the trumps are being discussed.

The European Commission wants to further negotiate

So far, Ševčovič has officially revealed that retaliatory duties on steel and aluminum will affect the US import worth nearly 26 billion euros. He did not talk about other products.

According to Politico portal, the European Commission is about to introduce 25 % duty For example, for American soy, corn, tobacco, ships, plastics and textiles. At the same time, Bourbon cut off the list because Trump was threatened with a 200 % duty on European wine. The final list of products should be known on Wednesday.

On the other hand, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der leyen Over the weekend, she said that the US offered zero duties for industrial goods such as cars, chemistry or plastics. « Europe is always ready for a good business, » she said, adding that Brussels is open to further negotiations to alleviate the Customs War.

In addition to negotiating and duties in the talon, the EU also has other tools that can force Trump to concessions. Relate to the pillars of the US economy, ie large technology companies such as Meta (Facebook), Google, Amazon or Apple. The possibility of introducing a pan -European digital tax for them, mentioned by German economy Minister Robert Habeck.

Who has already introduced a digital tax