How can the slow-paced EU fight against Trump's ever-changing policies?

Author: Zhang Dongfang

The EU's trade countermeasures require the consent of the vast majority of member states. The EU has always hoped to seek a solution through negotiation. The slow pace is to leave room for negotiation.

Trump's comprehensive tariffs once plunged the world into chaos. A week later, Trump suspended the tariff increase on 75 countries that "submitted" for 90 days. At the same time, the tariff on China, which "confronted with hardness", was increased to 125%, plus the previous 20%, a total of 145%. Countries and regions including the EU breathed a sigh of relief. It turns out that the ultimate enemy Trump is pursuing is China, and other countries are just runners-up.
Speaking of submission, in Trump's language, that is flattering and kneeling down to beg for mercy. Trump boasted publicly, "I tell you, these countries are calling us and flattering me," "They are eager to make a deal. 'Sir, please, make a deal. I'm willing to do anything.' In Trump's fantasy, the best situation is that everyone kneels in front of him and submits to his majesty and power.
But such a thing can't happen to China. A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "The Chinese don't cause trouble, nor are they afraid of trouble. Pressure, threats and blackmail are not the right way to deal with China." Trump's comment on his tariff measures is, "You can't retaliate. If you retaliate, you will double your efforts." On April 11, the Tariff Commission of the State Council of China issued an announcement stating that given that at the current tariff level, there is no market acceptance for US goods exported to China, if the US continues to impose tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US, China will ignore it. "Compared with China's head-on confrontation, the EU seems like an invisible man. When Trump announced comprehensive tariffs including a 20% tariff on the EU on the 2nd, the European Commission responded, but it only said "we are ready to deal with it" but did not say what it was prepared for. On March 12, a few hours after Trump's 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imported into the United States came into effect, the European Commission quickly announced countermeasures, which made Trump very angry. On the 13th, Trump posted on the social platform that "the European Union is one of the most hostile and abusive tax and tariff institutions in the world. Its only purpose is to take advantage of the United States. It has just imposed a harsh 50% tariff on whiskey. If this tariff is not lifted immediately, the United States will soon impose a 200% tariff on all wine, champagne and alcohol products from France and other EU representative countries. This will benefit American wine and champagne companies. "
In a media interview, U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick responded to Trump's threat of a 200% tariff. He said that the European Union and Canada, which raised tariffs in tit-for-tat with the United States, "disrespect" Trump, and Trump is tired of this. "If you make him unhappy, he will respond with an unhappy response." He also called the responses of Britain and Mexico "pragmatic" and "well thought out."
With the lessons of Trump and his administration, the EU has remained relatively restrained this time.
But in fact, on April 9, the day when the United States imposed reciprocal tariffs on the EU and dozens of countries, EU member states passed countermeasures to impose retaliatory tariffs on US products worth nearly 21 billion euros. The measure is divided into three steps. Measures involving 3.9 billion euros of trade will be implemented on April 15, and another 13.5 billion euros will be implemented on May 16. The last round of 3.5 billion euros will be implemented on December 1. However, the EU's retaliation was a beat late. The "trilogy" is actually a response to Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs that came into effect in mid-March, not reciprocal tariffs.
The slow pace of the EU stems from two reasons. First, it has to do with the EU's organizational structure. The trade countermeasures are related to the structure and decision-making. The trade countermeasures need the consent of the vast majority of member states, which means that the decision-making process will take longer and will always face different interests. In response to the US's 25% tariff on steel and aluminum, the European Commission originally planned to impose tariffs on US imports worth up to 26 billion euros and formulated a product list in mid-March. However, due to pressure from France, Italy and other countries, dairy products and bourbon whiskey were removed from the retaliation list. Secondly, no matter how aggressive Trump is, the EU always hopes to seek a solution through negotiation. The slowdown is to leave room for negotiation. Even in the EU's arsenal, there are "anti-coercion tools" and measures to crack down on US technology companies, but the EU does not want to further deteriorate relations with the United States. After the EU countries reached a consensus on countermeasures on the 9th, the European Commission said in a statement, "If the United States agrees to a fair and balanced negotiation result, these countermeasures can be stopped at any time. "On the 7th, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU had proposed a "zero-to-zero" tariff plan to the United States, that is, the EU is willing to reduce the EU's tariffs on automobiles and industrial products imported from the United States to zero. However, Trump rejected this plan and said that the EU must commit to purchasing US$350 billion worth of US energy. Of course, even slow retaliation and selective retaliation are retaliation, and they are carefully designed retaliation. According to statistics and analysis by the media POLITICO, the EU tariff measures will have a value of up to 135 billion US dollars on US red states (states that support the Republican Party). The United States is the world's second largest soybean producer and exporter. In 2024, the United States exported $2.4 billion worth of soybeans to the European Union, of which $2.1 billion came from states that supported Trump. The EU is preparing to precisely strike at Trump's voter base in order to hit Trump where it hurts.
However, a few hours later, Trump suspended the imposition of tariffs on 75 countries that had "surrendered" for 90 days. At the same time, tariffs on China were increased to 125%. Trump's leniency towards the so-called "surrender" cannot be understood as surrender to the EU, which had originally announced retaliatory measures. Trump may not even have noticed that the EU announced countermeasures. Trump’s suspension is actually a “surrender” to the strong external backlash and violent market turmoil, and the highest level of toughness against China also conceals this “surrender”.
A day later, the EU announced a 90-day suspension of its tariff countermeasures against the United States, and the European Commission said, “We want to give negotiations a chance.” A spokesman for the European Commission said that European Commission Trade Commissioner Šefčović went to Washington again on April 14 to seek negotiations. This was his third trip to the United States since he took office in December last year.
Between surrender and hard confrontation, the EU is closer to surrender. However, the EU’s temporary relief can only be temporary. Given that Trump’s tariffs against China have reached new heights, the EU will once again face the difficulty of choosing sides.