Canada and the EU swiftly retaliate against Trump's steel and aluminum
tariffs
[March 13, 2025] By
LORNE COOK, DAVID McHUGH and ROB GILLIES
BRUSSELS (AP) — Major trade partners swiftly hit back at President
Donald Trump’s increased tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, imposing
stiff new taxes on U.S products from textiles and water heaters to beef
and bourbon.
Canada, the largest supplier of steel and aluminum to the U.S., said
Wednesday it will place 25% reciprocal tariffs on steel products and
also raise taxes on a host of items: tools, computers and servers,
display monitors, sports equipment, and cast-iron products.
Across the Atlantic, the European Union will raise tariffs on American
beef, poultry, bourbon and motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and
jeans.
Combined, the new tariffs will cost companies billions of dollars, and
further escalate the uncertainty in two of the world's major trade
partnerships. Companies will either take the losses and earn fewer
profits, or, more likely, pass costs along to consumers in the form of
higher prices.
Prices will go up, in Europe and the United States, and jobs are at
stake, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for
business, and even worse for consumers," von der Leyen said.
The EU duties aim for pressure points in the U.S. while minimizing
additional damage to Europe. EU officials have made clear that the
tariffs — taxes on imports — are aimed at products made in
Republican-held states, such as beef and poultry from Kansas and
Nebraska and wood products from Alabama and Georgia. The tariffs will
also hit blue states such as Illinois, the No. 1 U.S. producer of
soybeans, which are also on the list.
Spirits producers have become collateral damage in the dispute over
steel and aluminum. The EU move “is deeply disappointing and will
severely undercut the successful efforts to rebuild U.S. spirits exports
in EU countries,” said Chris Swonger, head of the Distilled Spirits
Council. The EU is a major destination for U.S. whiskey, with exports
surging 60% in the past three years after an earlier set of tariffs was
suspended.
Could there be an agreement that takes increasing tariffs off the
table?
Von der Leyen said in a statement that the EU “will always remain open
to negotiation.”
Canada’s incoming Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday he’s ready
to meet with Trump if he shows “respect for Canadian sovereignty″ and is
willing to take ”a common approach, a much more comprehensive approach
for trade.″
Carney, who will be sworn in Friday, said workers in both countries will
be better off when “the greatest economic and security partnership in
the world is renewed, relaunched. That is possible.”
“We firmly believe that in a world fraught with geopolitical and
economic uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our
economies with tariffs,” she said.
The American Chamber of Commerce to the EU said the U.S. tariffs and EU
countermeasures “will only harm jobs, prosperity and security on both
sides of the Atlantic.” “The two sides must de-escalate and find a
negotiated outcome urgently,” the chamber said Wednesday.
[to top of second column] |
President Donald Trump waves to the media as he walks on South Lawn
of the White House, in Washington, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP
Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
 What will actually happen?
Trump slapped similar tariffs on EU steel and aluminum during his
first term in office, which enraged European and other allies. The
EU also imposed countermeasures in retaliation at the time, raising
tariffs on U.S.-made motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans,
among other items.
This time, the EU action will involve two steps. First on April 1,
the commission will reimpose taxes that were in effect from 2018 and
2020, but which were suspended under the Biden administration. Then
on April 13 come the additional duties targeting 18 billion euros
($19.6 billion) in U.S. exports to the bloc.
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič traveled to Washington last
month in an effort to head off the tariffs, meeting with U.S.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other top trade officials.
He said on Wednesday that it became clear during the trip “that the
EU is not the problem."
“I argued to avoid the unnecessary burden of measures and
countermeasures, but you need a partner for that. You need both
hands to clap,” Šefčovič told reporters at the European Parliament
in Strasbourg, France.
Canada is imposing, as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday 25% reciprocal tariffs
on steel products worth $12.6 billion Canadian (US$8.7 billion) and
aluminum products worth $3 billion Canadian (US$2 billion) as well
as additional imported U.S. goods worth $14.2 billion Canadian ($9.9
billion) for a total of $29.8 billion (US$20.6 billion.)
The list of additional products affected by counter-tariffs includes
tools, computers and servers, display monitors, water heaters, sport
equipment, and cast-iron products.
These tariffs are in addition to Canada’s 25% counter tariffs on $30
billion Canadian (US$20.8 billion) of imports from the U.S. that
were put in place on March 4 in response to other Trump tariffs that
he’s delayed by a month.
European steel companies brace for losses
The EU could lose up to 3.7 million tons of steel exports, according
to the European steel association Eurofer. The U.S. is the
second-biggest export market for EU steel producers, representing
16% of the total EU steel exports.
The EU estimates that annual trade volume between both sides stands
at about $1.5 trillion, representing around 30% of global trade.
While the bloc has a substantial export surplus in goods, it says
that is partly offset by the U.S. surplus in the trade of services.
___
McHugh reported from Frankfurt and Gillies from Toronto. Jill
Lawless contributed to this report from London.
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