U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to impose high tariffs on all U.S. imports from the European Union, claiming no progress has been made in trade talks with EU countries.
Trump recommended imposing a 50% tariff on all imports from the European Union, starting from June 1st.
It is noted that European imports are currently subject to a uniform tariff of 10% under Trump's decision issued last April, which suspends all reciprocal tariffs exceeding this level for three months.
The United States is the EU's largest trading partner, with the bloc's exports to America last year exceeding €530 billion, equivalent to $601.8 billion, which is more than 20% of the region's total exports, according to European Commission data.
Therefore, it is expected that many sectors and member states of the bloc will be adversely affected by the new tariffs in the coming period.
The pharmaceutical and drug products sector is likely to be the most affected by Trump's new tariffs, as the value of exports reaches $127.0 billion.
In second place comes the machinery, boilers, and mechanical devices sector, with exports amounting to $89.8 billion, followed by the chemical products sector, with exports reaching $65.3 billion.
The vehicle and automotive components sector will also be affected, with exports valued at $60.3 billion, in addition to the electrical equipment sector, which has an estimated export value of about $39.3 billion.
Analysts believe that the optical equipment and measuring instruments sector will be negatively affected by Trump's tariffs, with exports reaching $37.0 billion, and the metals and food materials sector, with exports of $23.3 billion and $22.0 billion respectively.
Last April, when the U.S. president announced a 20% tariff on imports from Europe, analysts said that the GDP growth rate of the bloc is expected to be negatively affected by about 0.20%.
With tariffs increasing to 50%, it is widely likely that the negative impact on growth will worsen to reach 0.50%.
The impact of Trump's new tariffs will not only reach the sectors but will also extend to some countries, as the economies of some EU countries like Ireland rely heavily on exports to the United States; thus, these countries will be more vulnerable to risk and threat.
So far, it has not been clarified whether Trump's recent threat will apply to all imported goods from EU countries, or if there will be exceptions for certain sectors, such as the automotive sector, which is currently subject to a 25% tariff.
It is mentioned that a U.S. federal court decided last week to freeze the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on all countries around the world.
However, this decision was overturned and the appeal was accepted, leading to a resurgence of tensions regarding a global trade war.