America’s allies across Europe expressed outcry and frustration after President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would raise his newly announced global tariffs to 15%, less than a day after announcing 10% global duties.
On Friday, Trump announced a 10% import tax on all foreign trade after his massive state-by-state tariffs were struck down by the Supreme Court.
A day later, he said in a Truth Social post that he would immediately raise the 10% Worldwide Tariff on Countries, many of which have been ‘outing’ the US for decades, without retaliation (until I get there!), to the fully authorized, and legally vetted, level of 15%.
The United States’ European allies, now familiar with Trump’s rapidly changing tariff threats after a year of negotiations, criticized the new measures and called for solidarity across the continent.
In remarks Saturday before Trump announced the 15% rate, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned of the “poison” of more uncertainty about tariffs.
“I will go to Washington with a joint European position,” he told reporters on Saturday, according to Reuters. “The biggest poison in the European and US economy is this ongoing uncertainty about taxes. And this uncertainty must end,” said Merz.
French President Emmanuel Macron said his government “will look directly at the results, what can be done, and we will agree.”
He also commented before Trump’s new tax rate was announced, adding that “proper legislation involves reconciliation, not unanimous decisions.”
“If this helps calm things down, fine. And I think we should aim for a way to reduce tensions around the world, and continue to modernize our economy,” added Macron.
France’s trade minister, Nicolas Forissier, told the Financial Times on Saturday that Europe has the tools to hit back at the US over its latest round of tariffs and called on European Union members to adopt a “united approach.”
Meanwhile, the UK government said on Friday it expected Britain’s “privileged trading position with the US” to continue. The statement said it was “a matter for the US to decide” whether past deals still stood, but officials vowed to “support UK businesses as further details are announced.”
Bernd Lange, chairman of the EU Parliament’s International Trade Committee, told the BBC that he would push for a halt to negotiations on an EU-US trade deal.
The uncertainty is familiar to European leaders, who have spent much of the Trump administration negotiating with Washington over frequent tariff threats.
In January, Trump said he would impose new tariffs on eight key European allies unless Denmark agreed to cede Greenland, before backing off those threats. Europe also spent last spring negotiating with the US as Trump sought to overhaul global trade on tariffs.
In both cases, Trump’s threats received a major backlash from European supporters, including threats to use the bloc’s “Anti-Coercion Instrument,” a policy option sometimes called the EU’s “bazooka.”
ACI would allow the European Commission to target almost any US goods or services in Europe with a wide range of restrictions and barriers.
To this end, Europe’s reaction has been muted, which one analyst said could be a tactical move by the continent’s leaders.
“I suspect that European leaders are waiting to see how Trump’s Plan B will develop before jumping in and risking retaliation in another way,” Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University in London, told NBC News.
He noted that Europe is still determined to keep Trump on its side over Ukraine, adding: “For all they know, he will try to punish them with a Supreme Court decision for being more guilty than what he has already done in Ukraine.”
The Supreme Court’s decision on Friday made most of the US tariffs in effect, except for some industry-specific duties such as those on cars, auto parts and semiconductor chips.
For some, Trump’s global tariffs will remain in place despite the revised rate, but will still result in significant reductions in spending on many key trading partners.
America’s top trading partners, including Mexico, Canada and China, will likely see a sharp drop in overall prices. Other major trading partners, such as India and Brazil, are also set to see job cuts.
But David Lubin, a senior researcher at Chatham House, a London-based think tank, said the decision was not necessarily a victory for China as an economic rival.
The Supreme Court’s ruling gives China an edge “so much so that this episode makes US policymaking look chaotic,” he told NBC News.
But “looked at another way, this is a victory for the law,” he added, which serves “to remind the world that one of the things that makes America great is the strength of its institutions.”
Trump is expected to travel to China at the end of March, focusing on spending as he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“I don’t think China wins or loses this,” said Lubin. “In any case, there is a determination on both sides, I think, not to rock the boat before Trump goes to Beijing.”
