After China, EU hits back at Donald Trump with tariffs targeting €21 billion worth goods

The European Union approved tariffs to hit around €21 billion ($23.2 billion) of US goods in retaliation for the 25 percent duties President Donald Trump imposed last month on the bloc’s steel and aluminum exports.

US President Donald Trump’s tariff measures have faced retaliation.(REUTERS)

A majority of the EU’s 27 member states on Wednesday voted in favor of the penalties, some of which will start to take effect in mid-April. The tariffs will target politically sensitive American states and include products such as soybeans from Louisiana, home to House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as diamonds, agricultural products, poultry, and motorcycles.

This development comes after China also retaliated against the 104 percent tariffs imposed on the country’s goods imported into the US, with Beijing slapping 84 percent levies on imports coming from America.

Some of the EU tariffs will take effect in mid-April, while another list will be imposed in mid-May. The third list will take effect later this year on December 1, Bloomberg reported. Most of the targeted goods face a 25 percent tariff level, with a few categories set to face 10 percent levies.

Bourbon was removed from the bloc’s list amid pressure from member states after Trump threatened 200 percent duties on wine, champagne, and other alcoholic beverages from France and elsewhere.

China’s retaliation against Donald Trump’s tariffs

The Chinese finance ministry on Wednesday announced that it was imposing additional tariffs of 84 per cent, up from the previous 34 per cent, on all US goods. The ministry noted that this retaliatory tariff will come into effect from April 10.

In a statement introducing its white paper on trade with the US, China’s commerce ministry said, “If the US insists on further escalating its economic and trade restrictions, China has the firm will and abundant means to take necessary countermeasures and fight to the end.”

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reacted to the tariffs announced by China, telling Fox Business Network that Beijing’s levy is “unfortunate”.

Bessent suggested that China “should not try to devalue their way out of” the tariff war, urging Beijing to come to the table for talks.