Trump’s 30% tariff on Europe would effectively knock out transatlantic trade, says EU trade chief

London CNN The European Union has warned that its commerce with the United States could be effectively wiped out if Washington makes good on its threat to slap a tariff on goods imported from the bloc A tariff of or anything above has more or less the same effect So practically it prohibits the commerce Maro ef ovi the EU s business commissioner commented as he arrived ahead of an EU ministerial meeting in Brussels on Monday ef ovi announced it will be almost impossible for the bloc to continue its current level of agreement with America if that new tariff rate is implemented on August the date stipulated by US President Donald Trump in his letter to the EU on Saturday If the tariff stays percent plus solely trading as we know it will not continue with huge negative effects on both sides of the Atlantic he added I will definitely do everything I can to prevent this super-negative scenario The EU-US commerce relationship is mighty According to the European Council EU-US bilateral arrangement in goods and services was worth trillion trillion last year Together the partners represent nearly of global goods and services business per the Council But Trump has repeatedly rebuked the EU for what he sees as unfair trading practices saying in April that the -nation bloc was formed to screw America He has pointed to EU tariffs on US goods as well as several non-tariff hindrances such as taxes on digital services to aid that view Since re-taking office in January Trump has hiked and threatened to hike tariffs on countries around the world to help eliminate the US arrangement deficit bring manufacturing jobs back to America and bring foreign nations to heel on key disputes For months EU deal representatives have been negotiating with their US counterparts to avoid Trump s tariffs or to limit their damage But after the US president threatened in May to jack up the rate of his so-called reciprocal levy on EU goods from to the bloc accelerated talks ef ovi reiterated on Monday that the EU seeks a negotiated key as well as his belief that one had been within touching distance before Trump s latest tariff salvo The feeling on our side was that we are very close to an agreement he reported noting that the bloc is demonstrating enormous levels of patience and creativity to secure a deal On Sunday the EU stated it will delay the implementation of planned countermeasures on billion billion worth of US exports from Monday until early August to allow more time to negotiate an agreement Those countermeasures are in retaliation for the tariff Washington has slapped on all steel and aluminium imports Lars L kke Rasmussen Denmark s foreign minister stated the bloc wants a fair deal and that it should prepare to retaliate If you want peace you have to prepare for war and I think that s where we are So of subject we shouldn t impose countermeasures at this stage but we should prepare to be ready to use all the tool in the toolbox Rasmussen revealed before the meeting of EU business ministers on Monday European stocks were falling Monday morning in the first day of contract since Trump issued his new tariff threat over the weekend The Stoxx Europe the region s benchmark index was trading lower by early afternoon CET