PRECARIOUS MOMENT
The EU, alongside dozens of other economies, had been set to see its US tariff level increase from a baseline of 10 per cent on Wednesday, but Trump pushed back the deadline to Aug 1.
Mexico and Canada come under a separate tariff regime.
Since the start of the week, Trump has sent out letters to more than 20 countries with updated tariffs for each, including a 35 per cent levy for Canada. A US official notified AFP Saturday that the USMCA exemption was expected to remain for both Mexico and Canada, although the president has yet to create final decisions.
Brussels stated Friday that it was ready to strike a deal with Washington to prevent the return of 20 per cent levies.
The EU has prepared retaliatory duties on US goods worth around 21 billion euros after Trump also slapped separate tariffs on steel and aluminium imports earlier this year, and they are suspfinished until Jul 14.
European officials have not built any relocate to extfinish the suspension but could do it quickly if requireded.
“Despite all the relocatement toward a deal, this threat displays the EU is in the same camp of uncertainty as almost every other countest in the world,” stated Josh Lipsky, chair of international economics at the Atlantic Council.
He notified AFP that the path forward now depfinishs on how the EU responds, calling it “one of the most precarious moments of the trade war so far.”
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