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Nearly every member of the European Union supports a plan to hit back against President Trump’s tariffs if no agreement is reached.
July 24, 2025Updated 12:15 p.m. ET
European Union officials are hopeful about a possible trade deal with the United States, aiming for 15 percent across-the-board tariffs, including on cars and car parts, but they have also made clear that they are prepared to strike back should an agreement fall through.
On Thursday, nearly every European Union country voted to back a plan to retaliate against President Trump’s tariffs, setting the stage to hit more than 93 billion euros’ worth of U.S. imports with levies should he follow through on his threat to tax European imports at 30 percent. Hungary was the lone holdout.
The measures, which will be adopted later Thursday by the European Commission, the E.U.’s executive arm, would kick in on Aug. 7 unless a satisfactory accord is reached, Olof Gill, a commission spokesman, said at a briefing in Brussels.
But whether they will actually be deployed remains to be seen. For one thing, the prospect of retaliation has made the European corporate world uncomfortable. Many company executives fear that any retaliation could infuriate Mr. Trump and expose them to even higher U.S. tariffs. The luxury, cosmetics and food industries in particular have been lobbying in Brussels against enacting any countermeasures.
Mr. Gill declined to say whether the European Union would still strike back if the United States imposed a lower 15 percent tariff on European imports, similar to the terms of the deal the United States made with Japan. “Right now, our focus is on finding a negotiated outcome with the U.S.,” he said, adding that one is “within reach.”
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