Trump is putting pressure on the EU: new 30% tariffs announced from August!

Trump is putting pressure on the EU: new 30% tariffs announced from August!

US President Donald Trump announced new customs measures in a recent letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. From August 1, 2025, imports from the EU will be subject to a basic tariff of 30 percent, which will place an additional burden on the existing sector tariffs on cars, car parts, steel and aluminum. Trump expects that US companies will be able to import duty-free into the EU in return and warns of possible retaliatory tariffs that could increase the tariff rate to up to 30 percent. T online reports that these measures are likely to hit German companies and the automotive industry particularly hard, as they slow down trade and make products more expensive.

The president of the automotive industry association VDA, Hildegard Müller, is already discussing the billions in costs that companies have to bear as a result of the current customs policy. Trump justifies these tariffs as a necessary corrective measure against European trade barriers that have caused a US trade deficit. However, there is uncertainty about the progress of the negotiations as some in Brussels believe that Trump could use threats to achieve better results in the talks.

Trade volumes and geopolitical tensions

Despite the looming tariff dispute, world trade grew in the first half of 2025. As the daily news reports, trading volume increased by $300 billion, which corresponds to an increase of around 1.7 percent. The main reasons for this are an increase in US imports by 14 percent and EU exports by 6 percent. In contrast, imports from developing countries fell by 2 percent.

However, UNCTAD warns of threats to trade in the second half of the year due, among other things, to political uncertainties and geopolitical tensions. The US-EU tariff dispute could develop into a broad conflict with potentially significant consequences for the European economy, particularly for export-oriented countries such as Germany, Ireland and Italy.

The costs of US tariffs are already unevenly distributed in the EU. German exports to the USA fell by 7.7 percent to 12.1 billion euros, and this is the lowest level in more than three years. While Trump has already taken a step with the basic tariff of 10 percent for almost all EU imports introduced in July 2025, he is also planning additional tariffs of 50 percent on copper imports as well as further tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expects this tariff policy to generate revenue of over $300 billion by the end of 2025. Trump also shows willingness to negotiate provided the EU removes trade barriers and opens its markets. Previous negotiations already outlined a draft for a joint declaration in which the EU was ready for a new US base tariff rate of less than 10 percent.

Given these developments, the coming weeks are crucial for the course of trade relations between the US and the EU. However, the EU Commission has made it clear that it views the tariffs as unjustified and incompatible with WTO rules, making negotiations even more difficult.