EU Warns of Retaliation Over US-UK Trade Deal Amid Ongoing Tariff Disputes

By Staff, Agencies

European Union trade ministers have criticized the United States over its recently signed trade agreement with the United Kingdom, warning that the bloc may impose retaliatory measures unless it secures more favorable terms in its own trade relationship with Washington.

The criticism follows a limited trade deal announced last week between US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. While the agreement reduces certain tariffs on UK steel and cars, it maintains a 10% baseline tariff on British exports overall — a sticking point for many EU officials who fear it sets a troubling precedent.

President Trump has already targeted European carmakers and metal industries with tariffs and, on April 2, announced a sharp increase on all EU imports. He later reduced that hike to a 10% tariff for 90 days, allowing room for negotiations.

Ahead of a trade ministers’ meeting in Brussels, Sweden’s Trade Minister Benjamin Dousa said the US-UK agreement was unacceptable if similar terms were to apply to the EU. “If the UK-US deal is what Europe gets, then the US can expect countermeasures from our side,” Dousa warned, adding that the deal hardly qualified as a proper trade agreement.

Finland’s Trade Minister Ville Tavio also criticized the deal, calling it far from ideal for the UK, and by implication, even less acceptable for the EU. French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin urged the bloc to stay alert, cautioning that settling for reciprocal 10% tariffs “would not be good news.” Poland’s Michal Baranowski added that the EU must aim higher than the UK deal, arguing the bloc “can have a better deal than staying with pretty high tariffs.”

The European Commission has already drawn up a list of possible retaliatory tariffs on $106 billion [€95 billion] worth of US goods, which it could activate if negotiations fail.

In response, US trade adviser Peter Navarro said any EU countermeasures would be “a grave mistake,” arguing that retaliation would be self-defeating. The EU had previously paused its own planned tariff hikes after the US delayed its tariff increases for three months.

European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said he spoke with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick this week and agreed to ramp up dialogue. However, if no breakthrough is reached by early July, the US is expected to raise tariffs to 20%, as part of President Trump’s broader effort to reduce the transatlantic trade deficit, which he blames on the EU.

Meanwhile, China weighed in on the matter, accusing the UK of succumbing to US pressure. Beijing claimed the US-UK deal violated a core principle of international trade agreements — that they should not unfairly target third parties.