EU, Canada Retaliate Against US Tariffs as Other Nations Weighing Responses

The EU said it plans to reinstate previously suspended tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum and introduce a “package of new countermeasures” against US exports. The EU steel and aluminum duties, which were originally imposed in response to U.S. Section 232 tariffs during the first Trump administration, will be reinstated April 1, while the other countermeasures are expected in mid-April.

The retaliatory duties could apply to up to nearly $30 billion worth of U.S. exports, the European Commission said, “matching the economic scope of the US tariffs.” The commission published a 99-page list of American exports that could see rate hikes, ranging from agricultural goods, meats and poultry, alcohol, dairy products, specific aluminum and steel products, household goods, e-cigarettes, motorcycles, wooden products and more.

The commission is accepting public comments by March 26 on the new U.S. tariffs and the bloc’s proposed retaliatory measures. “In the meantime, the EU remains ready to work with the US administration to find a negotiated solution,” it said. The countermeasures “can be reversed at any time should such a solution be found.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen criticized the U.S. tariffs, saying they are “disrupting supply chains” and will raise prices both in the EU and the U.S. She called the EU’s countermeasures “strong but proportionate” and added that she ordered Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s trade and economic security chief, to “resume talks” with the Trump administration to find a solution.

“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. “We are ready to engage in meaningful dialogue.”

Canada also announced retaliatory duties, imposing 25% “reciprocal tariffs” on more than $20 billion worth of imports from the U.S. beginning March 13, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said. He said those duties, which are in addition to the existing 25% counter-tariffs Canada announced against the U.S. earlier this month (see 2503040041), will target billions of dollars' worth of steel and aluminum products as well as other imported goods.

Those include computers, sports equipment and cast iron products, he said during a March 12 press conference, according to a video posted by Canadian news outlet CTV News.

LeBlanc said Canada could impose more retaliatory measures against the U.S., and said the country is working with Canadian exporters to find new trading partners or help them obtain export financing. “We understand that these are challenging, uncertain times for Canadian businesses and Canadian workers,” he said, and the government is “there to help business owners find new markets for their products.”

Melanie Joly, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, said this is going to be a “day to day fight.” She said Trump’s “excuse” for imposing tariffs against Canada has been “unjustified.”

“The excuse for the first round of [U.S. tariffs] was exaggerated claims about our border. … The latest excuse is national security,” Joly said during a press conference. “The excuse for the tariffs shifts every day.”

Other countries said they didn’t plan to immediately counter the U.S. tariffs. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the country isn’t planning to retaliate, saying “tariffs and escalating trade tensions are a form of economic self-harm and a recipe for slower growth and higher inflation.” He said the country will look to “engage constructively with the United States and to make the case for Australian trade and the benefits it delivers to Americans,” including by asking for an exemption from the duties.

“Australia will continue working hard for a different outcome and discussions with the Trump Administration are ongoing,” Albanese said. “Our Government is prepared and has been engaging directly with the Australian steel and aluminium industry and will continue working through this with them.”

U.K. Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds called the U.S. tariffs “disappointing” but didn’t immediately announce retaliatory measures. He said the U.K. is considering “what further steps might be necessary to protect UK producers” and also is working on “rapidly negotiating a wider economic agreement with the US to eliminate additional tariffs and to benefit UK businesses and our economy.”

The country “will continue to engage closely and productively with the US to press the case for UK business interests,” Reynolds said. “We will keep all options on the table and won’t hesitate to respond in the national interest.”

The Japanese government’s top spokesperson told reporters in Tokyo March 12 that it was “regrettable” that the new U.S. tariffs had been levied “without excluding Japan,” NBC reported.

The comments came one day after Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yoji Muto met with U.S. officials in Washington, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnuck and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, where he “stated that Japan should not be subject to the tariff measures that the U.S. Government has announced so far,” according to an unofficial translation of Japan’s readout of the meetings. He also “explained Japan's position on the impact that the U.S. tariff measures could have on Japanese industries, the development of the business environment in both Japan and the U.S., and the expansion of investment and employment.”

Mexico and Brazil reportedly also are holding off on announcing countermeasures against the U.S.