After the US Supreme Court rejected Trump’s move to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs globally under the emergency powers act, Trump announced a new 10% global tariff and then threatened to raise it to 15%.
According to Bernd Lange, the chair of the European Parliament’s trade committee, the European Commission, which is in charge of the EU’s trade affairs, informed lawmakers on Monday that the new global tariffs would be added to the existing ones. The new cumulative rates mean that tariffs on some goods will exceed the 15% ceiling agreed upon by the EU and the US in their trade deal.
According to informed sources, under Trump’s new tariff plan, tariffs on some products including butter, plastics, textiles and chemicals will exceed the 15% cap. These new global tariff measures could last up to 150 days. Committee spokesperson Olof Gill refused to comment on the assessment results.
Last summer, the EU-US trade deal reached by Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will impose a 15% tariff on most EU goods exported to the US, while eliminating tariffs on many US goods exported to the EU. The US will also continue to impose a 50% tariff on European steel and aluminum imports.
The group agreed to this lopsided deal, hoping to avoid a full-scale trade war with Washington and maintain US security support, especially on the issue of Ukraine.
The European Parliament on Monday suspended its legislative work on the EU-US trade deal, demanding that the Trump administration clarify its new trade policy.
EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic held talks with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo over the weekend and presented a report to European lawmakers and a group of EU ambassadors on Monday.
According to informed sources, Šefčovič told them that it might take up to four months to work out the details of the new trade policy.
According to unnamed sources, many ambassadors who spoke at the meeting said that despite the uncertainty brought by the court’s ruling, they still hoped to adhere to the trade agreement.
Both sides have expressed their hope to abide by the trade agreement, but it remains unclear how they will do so and how long it will take, some insiders said.
