The EU strikes back at Trump: 25% tariffs on dental floss, diamonds, and sausages... but spares bourbon

BrusselsThe European Union has repeatedly warned Donald Trump that He does not intend to sit idly by In the face of the barrage of tariffs it intends to apply to European imports. No sooner said than done. Brussels and the member states have agreed on a list of US products on which they want to raise import tariffs, and they are expected to ratify it in a vote this Wednesday. Despite the fact that bourbon is being removed from the list, the EU is on track to apply tariffs of up to 25% on products as varied as sausages, dental floss, eggs, diamonds, and, among others, free-range chickens, according to Reuters and confirmed by ARA.

Brussels proposes that the new tariffs take effect in different phases: the vast majority of products will already be affected by these countermeasures on April 15 and May 16, and, in the case of soybeans and hazelnuts, as of December 1. In this way, the EU gives the Trump administration more room to reconsider, sit down to negotiate, and avoid a trade war between the two powers.

In fact, this Monday the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, offered the White House to withdraw any type of tariffs on American industrial goods until they were at 0%, and this Tuesday she urged China to avoid "further escalation" in Trump's trade war. Thus, in a phone call with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qang, he emphasized the "responsibility" that the EU and the Asian giant have for international trade as "the two largest markets in the world," and called for an attempt to find a "negotiated resolution" to the tariff escalation initiated by the United States.

The main reason why the community bloc has temporarily removed bourbon, wine, and dairy products from the list of US products affected by countermeasures is to avoid giving Trump further impetus to also raise tariffs on the European wine sector. It should be remembered that Trump has already threatened to increase import tariffs on wine and other European alcoholic beverages to 200%, which would particularly affect countries like France and Italy. In fact, this is why both Paris and Rome have refused to include these types of products on the list against the US.

In this regard, European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič admitted to the EU Council on Monday that this package of countermeasures is expected to have a smaller impact than the 26 billion euros Brussels had initially estimated. However, the European Commission is already preparing another response to Trump's tariffs on the European automobile sector and the 20% import duties on all European products, and plans to present it next week if the White House continues to refuse to negotiate. In any case, Šefčovič now insists that the EU does not intend to carry out a "tit-for-tat strategy" against the Republican administration, but rather calculated actions that will have maximum damage to the US economy and minimum damage to the European one.

Brussels finalizes multi-billion-dollar fines for US big tech companies

The trade war between the EU and the US doesn't end with tariffs. The European Commission is also finalizing multi-billion-dollar sanctions against major US technology companies, according to reports. The Country And EU sources confirm to this newspaper. Thus, in the midst of a trade war with Trump, Brussels plans to fine Apple and Meta—the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp—for violating the European Digital Markets Act, which aims to prevent abuse of the dominant position held by these types of multinationals in the sector.

This will be the first major fine imposed by the department of the European Vice President and Minister of Competitiveness, the Spanish Socialist Teresa Ribera. However, the fine is expected to fall short of the maximum permitted by law and will therefore be less than the equivalent of 10% of the global turnover of these major US technology companies.

Although these sanctions have nothing to do with the tariff war with Trump, Von der Leyen opened the door last week to attacking the big tech Americans in retaliation, and some countries, like France, are already pushing in this direction. In fact, there's growing momentum in the EU to go beyond a tariff response from the White House and opt to punish the US services sector, especially companies like Meta, Google, Apple, and X.