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The European Union is looking to coordinate a joint response to Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat with the G7 countries. But it isn’t even capable of presenting a unified front within its own borders.
After the U.S. president announced plans to impose 30% tariffs on goods from the EU, causing European markets to slump, representatives from different member states raised totally contradictory suggestions for how the ‘union’ should respond. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni doubled down on her view that “an internal trade war within the West would make us all weaker” and pushed for “a fair and sensible agreement.” Meanwhile, French MEP Marie-Pierre Vedrenne—among others—argued for retaliation, saying, for example, that the EU’s anti-coercion instrument should be “on the table.”
Anche oggi, il Governo è in stretto contatto con la Commissione europea e con tutti gli attori impegnati nella trattativa sui dazi. Una guerra commerciale interna all’Occidente ci renderebbe tutti più deboli di fronte alle sfide globali che insieme affrontiamo. L’Europa ha la…
— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) July 13, 2025
Face à une nouvelle provocation tarifaire de Donald Trump, pas de demi-mesure
— Marie-Pierre Vedrenne (@MariePierreV) July 12, 2025
Nos intérêts économiques & nos entreprises sont attaqués, l’Europe unie doit répondre avec force
🔹 Instrument anti-coercition sur la table
🔹 Mesures de rétorsion ciblées prêtes à entrer en vigueur https://t.co/hdP1Zrnkr2 pic.twitter.com/22W6JFJkD1
The 30% tariff on EU goods will come into effect on August 1st if the two sides fail to reach a deal.
Brussels trade chief Maroš Šefčovič said on Monday that he “felt” Washington was still up for negotiating, adding:
The current uncertainty caused by unjustified tariffs cannot persist indefinitely.
But even Šefčovič’s role in the talks has received criticism, with Euractiv arguing this week that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s decision to hand him full negotiating power “looks to have been a massive fiasco.” Not that Ursula is likely to have done much of a better job herself.
Brussels’ incompetence in ongoing talks was also highlighted by the well-reported notion that European officials were completely blindsided by Trump’s latest tariff announcement, even believing, just moments before, that they were on the right track. Hungarian Deputy Trade Minister Levente Magyar did, however, say that he was not surprised “because President Trump’s been sending out these letters to all of his major counterparts.”
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