The European Union is targeting Alabama and other Republican states in a retaliatory trade action, in the form of new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products. This response came within hours to the Trump administration's increase in tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%. Alabama produce is specifically mentioned. The State Department of Commerce says similar trade moves from China are a concern for the poultry industry where Alabama exports an estimated twenty three million chickens a week. Sesame,
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is also speaking out against Donald Trump’s on again, off again tariffs. The organization’s website said over a half million jobs in Alabama are supported by the over three billion dollars in exports to the EU and China. The Chamber cites items like automobiles, steel, and soybeans among exports possibly in peril. Another issue for Alabama could be the expansion of Europe’s defense capability following Trump’s reported favoritism of Russia in its ongoing war with Ukraine.
EU Commission President told lawmakers this week that 150,000,000 Euros in loans being sought by European countries to bolster mutual defense should be spent on Europe made weapons and not from the U.S. “
“These loans should finance purchases from European producers to help boost our own defense industry,” von der Leyen said. “The contract should be multiannual to give the industry the predictability they need. And, finally, there should be a focus on joint procurement,” she added. The Europe Council meets again next week to consider a legislative proposal for the new financial arrange.
The U.S. Defense Department said Alabama has, so far, benefited from U.S. military aid to Ukraine to the tune of nearly $4B dollars and $31M in industrial investment as a result of the conflict with Russia. The Pentagon fact sheet specifically mentions over ten thousand javelin shoulder launched anti-tank weapons. Many of this munitions were manufactured at a Lockheed-Martin factory in Troy.
The world's biggest trading bloc was expecting the U.S. tariffs and prepared in advance, but the measures still place great strain on already tense transatlantic relations. Only last month, Washington warned Europe that it would have to take care of its own security in the future. The EU measures will cover goods from the United States worth some 26 billion euros ($28 billion), and not just steel and aluminum products, but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods. Motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans will be hit, as they were during President Donald Trump's first term.
The EU duties aim for pressure points in the U.S. while minimizing additional damage to Europe. The tariffs — taxes on imports — primarily target Republican-held states, hitting soybeans in House speaker Mike Johnson's Louisiana, but also beef and poultry in Kansas and Nebraska. Produce in Alabama, Georgia and Virginia is also on the list.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that the bloc "will always remain open to negotiation."
"As the U.S. are applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros," she said. The commission manages trade and commercial conflicts on behalf of the 27 member EU countries.
"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," von der Leyen said.
Trump said his taxes would help create U.S. factory jobs, but von der Leyen said: "Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. In Europe and in the United States."
"We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy," 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.
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 reintroduce what it calls "rebalancing measures," which the EU had 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.
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 some 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.
Britain, which isn't part of the EU, meanwhile said it won't impose retaliatory measures of its own on the U.S. British Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Wednesday he would "continue to engage closely and productively with the U.S. to press the case for U.K. business interests."
He did not rule out future tariffs on U.S. imports, saying "we will keep all options on the table and won't hesitate to respond in the national interest."
