Could Europe hit back with tariffs?published at 01:38 GMT
01:38 GMT
Jonathan Josephs
BBC business reporter
Trump’s tariff threats against Nato allies was on the minds of several readers. John, Denis, Vernon, Chris and Les all asked how European nations might hit back with their own tariffs.
Less than six months ago, the US and the EU
agreed a deal that was supposed to stabilise transatlantic trade and provide
certainty to businesses and consumers.
European
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen came away from President Trump’s golf
course in Scotland with tariffs of 15% on everything the EU sells to the US –
far better than the 30% America had threatened.
Along the
way, Brussels also prepared a package of tariffs that would come into force if
it was unable to reach an agreement with the US.
It included
tariffs on everything from livestock to aircraft parts to whiskey, totalling
€93bn (£80bn; $108bn) worth of goods that the US sells to the EU.
The
high-level agreement meant those taxes were suspended while details were worked
out, and the European Parliament was set to ratify the EU-US trade deal next
week.
But within
hours of Trump’s threat, influential German MEP Manfred Weber said approval was
“not possible at this stage”.
Without the
EU signing off on last year’s deal or extending the suspension, the tariffs on
billions of euros worth of American goods will kick in on 7 February.
That risks a
political backlash in the US for Trump from companies that export to Europe.
As for his
threats of tariffs on some but not all EU countries, the commission said while
it was technically possible, it would be very difficult to implement given the
number of times goods cross EU borders before they are exported to the US.
European
Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said Brussels would do “everything
necessary to protect EU economic interests” – but ultimately, tariffs
would only serve to harm businesses and consumers on both sides of the
Atlantic.