Maros Sefcovic, European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security; Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency, speaks to reporters in Singapore on May 7, 2025, after signing of the EU-Singapore Digital Trade Agreement (DTA), a landmark initiative enhancing digital economic cooperation between the European Union and Singapore.
Roslan Rahman | Afp | Getty Images
The European Union’s executive arm will announce further details of its proposed countermeasures to U.S. tariffs in a Thursday update, European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said Wednesday.
“Tomorrow we will announce next preparatory steps, both in [the] area of possible rebalancing measures and also in the areas important for further discussions,” Sefcovic said during a news conference in Singapore on Wednesday.
Sefcovic said the EU continued to “prepare for any scenario” if current trade talks fail.
“Negotiations clearly come first but not at any cost,” he told reporters, adding that the bloc’s “lazer-focused approach” was still to find a negotiated solution with Washington.
“We are working very closely with our member states, consulting industry, talking to our key stakeholders to ensure we are ready for whatever comes next,” Sefcovic said.
Trump initially imposed a 20% “reciprocal” tariff on all goods coming from the EU but on April 9 paused the measures for 90 days for negotiations, lowering the duty to 10% until that time. A 25% tariff on foreign cars as well as steel and aluminum imports remains in place.
The EU has currently paused its initial set of retaliatory measures — a response to the metals duties — which target around 21 billion euros ($24.1 billion) worth of U.S. goods, chiefly with a tariff rate of 25%.
