Trump announces the start of the tariff war with the EU: “They won’t screw us anymore.” Brussels: “We will react firmly”

Brussels – Late last night (Feb. 26),  Donald Trump launched a new attack against the EU. This one had been expected for some time. During the first Cabinet meeting of the new administration, the US president announced that he would impose tariffs of 25 percent against the European Union. In Trump’s style, the announcement is vague and lacks details: tariffs will be applied “on cars and all the things,” he declared. Brussels responded immediately: “We will react firmly” to “unjustified tariffs.”

The announcement came with the usual attacks on European institutions. “I love the countries of Europe. I love all countries, frankly; all different. But the EU was formed to screw the United States. And they’ve done a good job of it,” Trump said, adding, “But now I’m in president.” The White House has decided. It will release the details “very soon.” Trump also complained about the presumed $300 billion trade deficit with the EU, a figure blown out of proportion compared with data from the European Commission, which shows a surplus on this side of the Atlantic but of about 48 billion euros.

When it was night in Europe, the EU executive already responded: “The European Union is the largest free trade market in the world. And it has been a boon to the United States,” said Olof Gill, spokesman for economic security and trade. Reiterating its call to “work together and not against each other,” the Commission warned that it would react “firmly and immediately” to “protect European businesses, workers, and consumers from unjustified tariffs.”

The European Commission’s executive vice president in charge of industry, French Stéphane Séjourné, also promised a “firm and immediate” reaction. In a post on X, he called the tariffs “unjustified obstacles to fair trade.” The scenario of a trade war “is a situation where everyone loses, both American and European companies and consumers,” Séjourné continued.

In an attempt to run for cover, for the past few months, Ursula von der Leyen has been focusing on the strategy of trade diversification, sending signals to all the other potential victims of Trump’s protectionist rampage. The signing of the much-discussed trade agreement with Mercosur countries, but also the summit in Brussels with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the surprise trip to Barbados to meet with the Caribbean Community, and now the relocation of the whole college of commissioners for a two-day meeting in India, “to diversify our partnerships,” Séjourné wrote again.

Barriers to fair trade are unjustified, especially between trade partners.

It’s a lose-lose for both & businesses & consumers.

Europe will react, immediately & firmly.

Tomorrow we will be on our way to India, with a view to diversifying our partnerships.

– Stéphane Séjourné (@steph_sejourne) February 26, 2025