<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The European Union on Wednesday announced retaliatory trade action with new duties on US industrial and farm products, responding within hours to the Trump administration's increase in tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports to 25 per cent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The world's biggest trading bloc was expecting the US tariffs and prepared in advance, but the measures still place great strain on already tense trans-Atlantic relations. Only last month, Washington warned Europe that it would have to take care of its own security in the future.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The EU measures will cover goods from the United States worth about €26 billion ($45 billion), and not just steel and aluminium products, but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods. Motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans will also be hit, as they were during US President Donald Trump's first term.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>EXPLAINED:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/donald-trump-tariffs-what-they-mean-australia-everything-need-know-explainer/6b4053af-724e-4649-a574-b73498d2fc4a" target="_blank"><strong><span>How hard Trump's tariffs will hit the Australian economy</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The EU duties aim for pressure points in the US while minimising additional damage to Europe. EU officials have made clear that the tariffs — taxes on imports — are aimed at products made in Republican-held states, such as beef and poultry from Kansas and Nebraska and wood products from Alabama and Georgia. Yet the tariffs will also hit blue states such as Illinois, the No. 1 US producer of soybeans, which is also on the list.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Spirits producers have in essence become collateral damage in the dispute over steel and aluminium. The EU move "is deeply disappointing and will severely undercut the successful efforts to rebuild US spirits exports in EU countries", said Chris Swonger, head of the Distilled Spirits Council. The EU is a major destination for US whiskey, with exports surging 60 per cent in the past three years after an earlier set of tariffs was suspended.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>EU moves to protect itself</span></strong></h3></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-trade-war-eu-retaliates-against-us-trade-moves-and-hits-beef-whiskey-motorcycles-with-targeted-tariffs/4aa62117-1875-41f4-988f-e7024c32de81" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that the bloc "will always remain open to negotiation".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"As the US are applying tariffs worth $28 billion, we are responding with countermeasures worth €26 billion," she said. The commission manages trade and commercial conflicts on behalf of the 27 EU member countries.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/influencer-filmed-taking-baby-wombat-from-mother-side-of-the-road-in-australia/0a4f364f-8edd-4c41-9f97-1258e2b4ecaf" target="_blank"><strong><span>'Extreme distress': Influencer cops backlash over baby wombat video</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We firmly believe that in a world fraught with geopolitical and economic uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with tariffs," von der Leyen said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump said that his taxes would help create US factory jobs, but von der Leyen said: "Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. In Europe and in the United States."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>American business group urges talks</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The American Chamber of Commerce to the EU said the US tariffs and EU countermeasures "will only harm jobs, prosperity and security on both sides of the Atlantic".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The two sides must de-escalate and find a negotiated outcome urgently," the chamber said Wednesday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>What will actually happen?</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump slapped similar tariffs on EU steel and aluminium during his first term in office, which enraged European and other allies. The EU also imposed countermeasures in retaliation at the time, raising tariffs on US-made motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans, among other items.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/donald-trump-rules-out-tariff-exemption-australian-steel-and-aluminium/2b339ef2-d341-475d-ad11-f62fb6f08dec" target="_blank"><strong><span>Dutton claims Albanese 'can't even get a phone call' with Trump amid tariff blow</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This time, the EU action will involve two steps. First on April 1, the commission will reintroduce what it calls "rebalancing measures," which the EU had from 2018 and 2020, but which were suspended under the Biden administration. Then on April 13 come the additional duties targeting €18 billion ($31 billion) in US exports to the bloc.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič traveled to Washington last month in an effort to head off the tariffs, meeting with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other top trade officials.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said on Wednesday that it became clear during the trip "that the EU is not the problem".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I argued to avoid the unnecessary burden of measures and countermeasures, but you need a partner for that. You need both hands to clap," Šefčovič told reporters at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>European steel companies brace for losses</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The EU could lose up to 3.3 million tonnes of steel exports, according to the European steel association Eurofer. The US is the second-biggest export market for EU steel producers, representing 16 per cent of the total EU steel exports.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The EU estimates that annual trade volume between both sides stands at about $US1.5 trillion ($2.38 trillion), representing around 30 per cent of global trade. While the bloc has a substantial export surplus in goods, it says that is partly offset by the US surplus in the trade of services.</span></div></div>