EU rejects higher US tariffs; China wants duties scrapped

BRUSSELS/BEIJING/HONG KONG/SEOUL — The European Commission demanded on Sunday that the United States stick to the terms of an EU-US trade deal reached last year, after the US Supreme Court struck down Donald Trump’s global tariffs and he responded with new levies across the board.The Commission, which negotiates trade policy on behalf of the 27 EU member states, said Washington must provide “full clarity” on the steps it intends to take following the court ruling.After the court struck down Trump’s global tariffs on Friday, the US president announced temporary, across-the-board tariffs of 10 percent, which he then hiked to 15 percent a day later.“The current situation is not conducive to delivering ‘fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial’ transatlantic trade and investment, as agreed to by both sides” in the joint statement setting out the terms of last year’s trade agreement, the commission said. “A deal is a deal.”The comments were far more strongly worded than the commission’s initial response on Friday, which had said only that it was studying the outcome of the Supreme Court decision and keeping in contact with the US administration.Last year’s trade deal set a 15-percent US tariff rate for most EU goods, apart from those covered by other sectoral tariffs such as on steel. It also allowed zero tariffs on some products such as aircraft and spare parts. The EU agreed to remove import duties on many US goods and withdrew a threat to retaliate with higher levies.It is not clear whether Trump’s new 15-percent tariffs supersede the EU-US deal. If they do, the EU’s zero tariff exemptions could disappear. The new tariffs could also be placed on top of pre-existing “most-favored-nation” US duties, which is not the case under the EU-US deal.‘Fighting is harmful’Meanwhile, China on Monday said it was making a “full assessment” of the US Supreme Court’s tariff ruling and has urged Washington to lift “unilateral tariff measures” on its trading partners, warning that fighting between the two countries is “harmful.”“US unilateral tariffs ... violate international trade rules and US domestic law, and are not in the interests of any party,” the Chinese ministry said.“Cooperation between China and the United States is beneficial to both sides, but fighting is harmful,” it added.Trade and tariffs are expected to dominate the agenda for both China and the US ahead of a highly anticipated visit by Trump to China in late March and early April — when he will meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.Trump’s planned new levies are grounded in a separate but untested law, known as Section 122, that allows tariffs up to 15 percent but requires congressional approval to extend them after 150 days. No president has previously invoked Section 122, and its use could lead to further legal challenges.“China will continue to pay close attention to this and firmly safeguard its interests,” the Commerce Ministry said.The US court’s ruling invalidated a number of tariffs that the Trump administration had imposed on Asian export powerhouses from China and South Korea to Japan and Taiwan, the world’s largest chipmaker and a key player in tech supply chains.South Korea said it would continue to consult with the US to maintain a “balance of interests” between the two countries, while its industry minister said there was concern among officials across industries, including cars, batteries and chips.“The public and private sector need to work together to secure Korean companies’ export competitiveness and diversify their markets,” Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said on Monday.India said it had delayed plans to send a trade delegation to Washington this week to finalize an interim trade deal, chiefly because of fresh tariff uncertainty out of the US, according to a source in its trade ministry.US tariffs on Indian goods were set to be cut to 18 percent, while India agreed to buy US items worth $500 billion over five years, ranging from energy supplies to aircraft and parts, precious metals and technology products.
2026-02-23 16:16:00