Race against time: EU prepares counter-moves

With just days left before the US deadline for new tariffs expires, Washington has proposed a 17 percent punitive tariff on European food. The threat could cause concern in southern Europe – even as the EU prepares countermeasures.

The negotiations between the EU and the US on new tariffs have entered a critical final stage. This weekend, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will hold talks with member states to coordinate the EU’s line ahead of what could become some form of framework agreement or confrontation.

But according to information in the British press and Politico, the US has now stepped up the negotiating game with a proposal for a special tariff, 17 percent, on European exports of agricultural and food products. Such a measure would hit hard on Southern Europe, including Spain, Italy and France – countries that have so far been more cautious about a quick and general agreement, compared to, for example, industrially dependent Germany.