Trump, 30% tariffs for EU and Mexico from 1 August. Macron: 'We need an anti-coercive mechanism'. Berlin: EU negotiates pragmatically

Germany's economy minister called on the EU to negotiate "pragmatically" with the US following Donald Trump's announcement of 30 per cent tariffs on European products as of 1 August. "It is now up to the EU, in the time it has left, to pragmatically negotiate a solution with the US that focuses on the main points of conflict," Katherina Reiche said in a statement.

"France shares the firm disapproval of the President of the EU Commission". Ursula von der Leyen on the 30% US tariffs. "In European unity, it is more than ever up to the Commission to affirm the Union's determination to resolutely defend European interests. This includes speeding up the preparation of credible countermeasures, mobilising all the instruments at its disposal, including the anti-coercive mechanism, if no agreement is reached by 1 August". This was stated on X by French President Emmanuel Macron.

'Trade relations between the US and Italy are very good and - as the government rightly points out - the confrontation is senseless. Trump has no reason to lash out at our country, but once again we pay the price of a German-driven Europe'. Thus a note from the League. According to Matteo Salvini's party, 'instead of threatening retaliation that overseas could only raise eyebrows, Germany's Von der Leyen should zero in on the EU's excessive bureaucracy, which is the real tariffs our companies pay, as the damage of the green deal ideology shows. The follies of Brussels have damaged European companies and families well before Trump's possible tariffs."

After the US announcement on the imposition of 30% tariffs on the EU, a meeting of the permanent representatives of the 27 EU states, Coreper, has been convened for tomorrow afternoon. This is reported in Brussels.

"The US announcement to impose 30% tariffs on goods imported from the EU is worrying and is not the way forward. The European Commission can count on our full support. As the European Union we must remain united and determined in pursuing a mutually beneficial outcome with the United States." The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Dick Schoof, writes this on X.

On the imposition of 30% tariffs on EU exports to the US 'we need to remain calm and have steady nerves. We cannot compromise our financial markets. It is obvious that the letter arrived from the US is an unpleasant willingness to negotiate,' commented Confindustria president Emanuele Orsini.

"We note the letter sent by US President Trump outlining a review of tariffs and a new timeline. Imposing 30% tariffs on EU exports would disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains, to the detriment of businesses, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic." Thus EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Trump's announcement.

"We remain ready," he emphasises, "to continue working towards reaching an agreement by 1 August. At the same time, we will take all necessary measures to safeguard the EU's interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if necessary. In the meantime, we continue to deepen our global partnerships, firmly anchored in the principles of rules-based international trade'.

"The Italian government continues to follow with great attention the development of the ongoing negotiations between the European Union and the United States, fully supporting the efforts of the European Commission, which will be further intensified in the coming days. We trust in the goodwill of all the players in the field to reach a fair agreement that can strengthen the West as a whole, given that - particularly in the current scenario - it would make no sense to trigger a trade clash between the two sides of the Atlantic. It is now crucial to remain focused on the negotiations, avoiding polarisations that would make reaching an agreement more complex". This is what is stated in a note from Palazzo Chigi.

Donald Trump's letter to the EU contains a glimmer of negotiation: 'If you wish to open your hitherto closed trade markets to the United States and eliminate your tariff and non-tariff policies and trade barriers, we could consider an amendment to this letter. These tariffs could be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your country'.

"We take note of the letter sent by US President Trump". "The imposition of 30 per cent tariffs on EU exports would disrupt key transatlantic supply chains, to the detriment of businesses, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic." "We remain ready to continue working towards an agreement by 1 August. At the same time, we will take all necessary measures to safeguard the EU's interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if necessary." This was stated by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

'Any tariffs are bad for trade and we would have preferred a Euro-Atlantic free trade area, with zero tariffs: the imposition of a 30% tariffs exceeds any threshold of tolerability for companies, increasing the risk of a significant drop in exports, also in light of the current devaluation of the dollar'. This was stated by the president of Federalimentare, Paolo Mascarino, commenting on President Donald Trump's proposal for 30% tariffs on all European products entering the United States. 'The combined impact of the US tariffs and the devaluation of the dollar will not be sustainable for several sectors,' Mascarino continues, 'and to protect companies we are asking the EU for public intervention: just as the United States has done with tariffs, which is in fact public intervention to protect their industry, we too are asking for it. However, we are not thinking of subsidies, but of urgent structural interventions to strengthen our competitive capacity by reducing tariffs within the EU: streamlining the bureaucratic burden on companies, reforming energy markets to ensure lower prices, facilitating access to credit. In this sense, pursuing more decisively the path of cutting interest rates in the euro area could help economic growth'. "It remains understandable," President Mascarino continued, "that the EU wants to give a political response to the US tariffs, out of institutional dignity and so that it is not mortified by this decision of the Trump administration: but we believe that this EU response should be prudent and still open to negotiation, given the risk of a further 30% in the event of retaliation. President Meloni is leading a complex action in Europe to contain all those who would like a muscular response to the threat of US tariffs, a strategy that would risk being self-defeating for Europe and Italy in particular'. The Italian food industry, he notes, 'is strongly export-oriented: the USA is the second destination of our exports, and will be worth (in 2024) 7.7 billion in turnover, or 14% of our total exports. Before the USA we only have Germany, which is worth 7.9 billion. So,' Mascarino concludes, 'the USA remains a very important market, and it remains a priority to foster the presence of our companies by supporting their competitiveness.

"The impact of tariffs at 30% would be devastating for the Italian economy and for the European economy, but within the European economy especially for Italian companies, workers and employees, because we are a country with a strong vocation for exports. I hope that between now and 1 August there is still time and space to strengthen the European negotiations and that we reach an agreement that will avert a trade war that would be disastrous not only for us, Europe and Italy, but also for the US economy. It is autarkic madness that Donald Trump is pursuing for purely ideological reasons'. This was said by Elly Schlein, secretary of the Democratic Party, on the sidelines of the conference 'The routes of the future' organised by the Democratic Party for Industrial Policy. "We expect a clear and strong stance, which so far there has not been on the part, of the government and Giorgia Meloni, because it is not that for their political friendships they can damage the national interest and the European interest. Now we have to strengthen every negotiation attempt that can avoid these 30% tariffs,' Schlein concludes.

"On tariffs we have to do some reasoning: today there is not only the issue of 10%, but there is also an issue of exchange rates, because when the average exchange rate of the last week is 13%, if I combine it with 10%, it makes 23%. We will have some products that are excellent and will make it but others that will not make it and therefore we must make, objectively by sectors and sectors, a serious assessment. And we will need compensation if we want to be competitive and remain in the market'. This was said by the president of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, speaking at the PD national conference on industrial policies. 'This is not a great concern,' he stressed.

Further reading

Tariffs, US sting on Canada: 35% from 1 August

11 July 2025

Tariffs at 17% for agriculture and wine, exemption for spirits: this is what the Us Wine Trade Alliance (Uswta) - the American association that represents the US wine trade at all levels in the fight against tariffs - fears in a letter sent to the Italian Wine Union (UIV) on Friday evening in which it appeals to the Italian and European wine industry to put pressure on the Old Continent's negotiators. "For political or ideological reasons," cites the letter, which is based on direct sources, "the USA considers trade deficits negatively, and with European wine the deficit is very high. But,' Uswta continues, 'European wines are unique expressions of terroir and are not replicable with American equivalents'. For UIV President Lamberto Frescobaldi: 'Tariffs at 17% would be a serious obstacle for both parties, as well as being contrary to the spirit of cooperation and the long history of relations that unite us, and the Uswta letter is an example of this. For this reason, we make an urgent appeal for further mediation by the European Commission and our government. Under these conditions - unacceptable to us - the potential damage estimated by the UIV for Italian wine, which destines 24% of its exports to the USA, is in the range of 300-330 million euros over the next 12 months, while for its overseas partners - importers, distributors, restaurants, bars - it is around 1.9 billion dollars". A loss, this, destined to rise in direct proportion to the weakness of the dollar. According to the UIV Observatory, the risk - should there not be a reduction in revenues along the supply chain - is that, at the end of 2026, we will find ourselves just above the values expressed in 2019.