Economic policy leaders of European Union member nations are looking at their options to manage promised tariffs from President Donald Trump.
Germany’s Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, is pushing other EU nations to move quickly to at least get a minimal framework in place with Trump as his July 9 deadline approaches. The Wall Street Journal reported that Merz believes many EU nations are moving too slowly to reach a trade agreement with Trump. He complained this week that the EU’s negotiating process had become “far too complicated,” and had lost sight of manageable, potential industry-specific exemptions, or even sliding-scale tariffs.
Trump in May told an audience at the White House that he was preparing for a tough battle with EU nations, calling them "nastier than China" on trade deals.
And in typical Trump tough-talk, he said he was ready to toe the line. "And we've just started with them. Oh, they'll come down a lot. You watch. We have all the cards. They treated us very unfairly."
The EU’s managing commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, said, “The EU remains fully committed to finding negotiated outcomes with the U.S.”
But at the same time, the EU announced a list of American products as potential tariff targets that amount to more than $107 billion in trade value should the negotiations with the U.S. fall apart. Products on the EU list include cars and trucks, airplanes, plastics, chemicals, and agricultural products.
Without direct negotiations, the back-and-forth posturing and threats of tariffs and counter-tariffs are where things are at now. The Journal reported that the U.S. Trade Representative’s office last week made public a document outlining an “agreement on reciprocal trade” and listed several ways the U.S. and the EU might address a broader range of non-tariff issues as a potential method of establishing a broader framework on tariffs.
Germany and Italy are now leading an effort to convince EU nations to quickly reach an agreement on trade with the U.S. that could be expanded or adjusted over time.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.