EU Lawmakers Press Trade Chief on Response to Possible US Tariffs
European Parliament members this week probed the EU’s new trade commissioner about how he’s handling President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, with some members calling on the EU to prepare for retaliation.
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Multiple members asked Maros Sefcovic, commissioner for trade and economic security, about how new U.S. tariffs would impact Europe’s economy and whether the bloc can take steps to preempt any potential duties before they’re imposed. Others said the EU shouldn’t cave to any Trump trade demands just because of the tariff threats.
The EU can’t let “ourselves be blackmailed with tariffs,” Anna Cavazzini of Germany said during a Committee on International Trade hearing Jan. 29. “If there will be tariffs coming, we should not give in, but we should also be ready to retaliate.”
The hearing was held the same day Commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick was questioned by Congress, where he vigorously defended the prospect of imposing tariffs on all goods from places like the EU (see 2501290044). Sefcovic said he hasn’t yet spoken with Lutnick but is ready to “engage immediately” after he is confirmed.
Sefcovic declined to answer questions from Parliament members about how possible U.S. tariffs would affect various EU exports -- like EU wine or pharmaceuticals -- because, he said, “we do not know what exactly the new U.S. administration will put on the table, and therefore, I do not want to go into any hypothetical discussions.” But he said the EU plans to discuss the tariffs with the Trump administration “once we know clearly what they have in mind.”
Brando Benifei of Italy, who leads a parliamentary delegation for relations with the U.S., pressed Sefcovic about how the possible tariffs could disrupt broader international trade and whether the EU has a plan to use its “defensive toolbox” to respond. “How is the commission planning to face up to the American plan to divide and conquer -- to split up the different trade members and divide them?” Benifei said, according to a Parliament translator.
Sefcovic stressed that the EU doesn’t want to start a trade war with the U.S.
“Nobody is interested in escalation, nobody is interested in raising the tension. Everyone wants to solve this problem through negotiations,” he said. “We are, I think, in quite a fragile” economic state, “and all of us would benefit from predictability, from stability and from a solid trade and economic relationship.”
But Sefcovic also said the EU is working on a new “economic security doctrine” to outline the types of defensive trade tools it can use and under which circumstances it will use them. He noted that the EU has “a lot of instruments” -- such as export controls and investment reviews -- “but we want to kind of bring it under one roof, and to have this comprehensive look to see if it works, if it's efficient and if it's agile enough.” He said he hopes to update the committee on the doctrine's progress later this year.
Until then, Sefcovic said he’s focused on forming a “positive transatlantic trade” relationship with the U.S. The EU would be willing to buy more American liquified natural gas, he said, and it wants to “explore deeper EU-U.S. cooperation on economic security” issues, including around China. Sefcovic called China the EU’s “most challenging trading partner," and he said the bloc should be working with the U.S. “on how to deal with the joint challenges coming from China's non-market policies and practices.”
He also said the EU and the U.S. should continue working together under the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council -- the group set up during the Biden administration to coordinate trade and technology policy between the two sides (see 2411130045). But Sefcovic also said the council should be restructured to go beyond surface-level discussions.
“To be honest, I think that we should go much more deeper than we did,” he said. “In the last period, the TTC was excellent. We could compare the notes, we could discuss things. But if you asked me if it led to some concrete resolutions of the long-standing problems like we had with our aircraft business or steel issues and other things -- no.”
A new TTC should have a “mandate” to “resolve the problems which are on the table” within a set time frame, Sefcovic said. “Will we get there? I think we'll see very soon.”