As US President Trump's tariff hurricane hits global markets and economic prospects, EU countries will seek to form a united front in the coming days to determine the first round of countermeasures against US tariffs.

According to media reports, the EU may approve tariffs on US imports worth up to $28 billion on Wednesday, which will be the EU's first round of targeted retaliatory tariffs against the United States. This move will mean that the EU will join China and Canada in fighting back against the United States.

The EU will fight back against the United States

Automobiles, steel and aluminum products from the 27 EU countries are already facing a 25% import tariff from the United States. And starting from Wednesday this week, almost all other goods from the EU will also face a so-called "reciprocal tariff" of 20%. Trump's tariffs now cover about 70% of EU exports to the United States - a total of 532 billion euros (about 4256.053 billion yuan) based on last year's data. In the future, EU copper, medicines, semiconductors and wood may also be subject to tariffs.

The European Commission, which is responsible for coordinating EU trade policy, will present a list of US products on which tariffs are proposed to be increased to EU member states later on Monday local time. It will include American meat, grains, wine, wood and clothing, as well as chewing gum, dental floss, vacuum cleaners and toilet paper, worth about $28 billion.

It should be noted that this list is mainly in response to Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs, rather than in response to broader reciprocal tariffs.

Bourbon has received more attention and exposed divisions within the EU. The European Commission has decided to impose a 50% tariff on American bourbon, prompting Trump to threaten to impose a 200% counter-tariff on EU alcoholic beverages if the EU goes ahead with this. France and Italy, Europe's major wine exporters, have expressed concerns about this.

Earlier on Monday, Luxembourg will host an EU political meeting - the first EU-wide political meeting since Trump announced sweeping tariffs - where trade ministers from the 27 EU member states will exchange views on the impact of tariffs and how best to respond.

EU diplomats said the main purpose of the meeting was to convey a consistent message that the EU wants to negotiate with Washington to remove tariffs, but is ready to take countermeasures if negotiations fail.

EU remains divided

Currently, there are different opinions among EU member states on how to respond to US tariffs.

France said the EU should develop a package that goes far beyond tariffs to fight back, and French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that European companies should suspend investment in the United States until "things are clear."

Ireland, which sends almost a third of its exports to the United States, called for a "thoughtful and measured" response. Italy, the EU's third-largest exporter to the United States, questioned whether the EU should fight back.

"It's a difficult balance. The measures cannot be too soft to bring the United States to the negotiating table, but they cannot be too hard to escalate the situation," said an EU diplomat.

EU's first round of countermeasures will be approved this week

So far, the negotiations between the EU and the United States have not yielded results. EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said he had a two-hour "frank" exchange with the US trade commissioner last Friday and told them that the US tariffs were "destructive and unreasonable."

The EU's first round of counter-tariffs will be voted on Wednesday this week and is expected to be approved with a high probability - unless 15 EU member states representing 65% of the EU population vote against it, but this is almost unlikely to happen.

The EU's first round of counter-tariffs will take effect in two stages, one part will take effect on April 15, and the rest will take effect a month later.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also hold discussions with executives from the steel, automotive and pharmaceutical industries on Monday and Tuesday to assess the impact of the tariffs and decide what to do next.

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