The EU calls for tariff negotiations, and Trump boasts: "They're calling us to suck my ass."

BarcelonaDonald Trump's new global tariffs went into effect midnight in Washington, including 104% on Chinese products and 20% on those from the European Union. Stock markets have experienced widespread losses since the start of the day in both Europe and Asian markets. The US president celebrated the official start of the trade war he himself initiated and, in a speech before the National Republican Congressional Committee, defended his plan for reciprocal tariffs as already working. "I'm telling you, these countries [those affected by the new tariffs] are calling us to lick my ass. They're dying to make a deal. Please, please, let's make a deal, I'll do anything," he claimed they told him.

The White House estimated the weekend at More than 50 countries affected by the tariffs had already spoken with Trump to negotiate the tariffs. Although it was not specified which governments would be on this list—which is, in fact, very difficult to verify—the fact is that this Wednesday there were new movements in this direction. The Trade Minister of South Korea—a US trade and military ally, which is punished with 25% tariffs—arrived in Washington to try to negotiate a tariff agreement. And although the EU approves its response to the tariffs this Wednesday, it has already made it clear that the preferred option is a negotiated agreement. "We want to negotiate. We don't want tariffs, we don't want a trade war," reiterated Henna Virkkunen, European Commissioner for Technology and Digitalization.

The Chinese government, which already announced it would fight "to the bitter end" against the 104% tariffs imposed by Trump, has already taken the first step to counterattack and has announced that products entering the United States will now pay total tariffs of 84% (making them more expensive, but 4%). The measure, which will take effect this Thursday, comes one day after Trump assured that China was "desperate" to reach an agreement. For the moment, that does not seem to be the case, and the trade clash is intensifying.

With the exception of China, where markets closed higher on Wednesday—amid indications that Beijing may have intervened to support the market—in the rest of the stock markets, the escalating tariffs have once again resulted in a day of red ink. Japan's Nikkei fell 3.9% and Taiwan's Taiex fell nearly 6%, to give a few examples from Asian markets. The downward trend is also widespread in Europe. The Ibex 35 fell more than 3%, while the FTSE 100, the benchmark index in the United Kingdom, fell 3.3%, the German DAX fell 4%, and the French CAC 40 also fell 4%. Soon, attention will turn to the opening of Wall Street at 3:30 p.m. Catalan time.

All this, while the European Union ratifies this Wednesday the list of US products on which it wants to raise import dutiesDespite bourbon's removal from the list, the EU is poised to apply tariffs of up to 25% on products as varied as sausages, dental floss, eggs, diamonds, and, for example, free-range chickens. The European Commission's strategy, in line with the calls for negotiation, is to implement a controlled counterattack: it proposes that these new tariffs take effect in different phases. Most of the countermeasures will begin on April 15 and May 16. In some cases, such as soybeans and hazelnuts, their application will be extended until December 1.