Europe is increasingly concerned about the shadow of US tariffs. Donald Trump has made it clear that the Old Continent will not be spared from new protectionist measures. The risk is that of a trade war without exclusion of blows, fueled by the desire of the former US president to rebalance economic relations with major international partners, in line with his slogan “Make America Great Again”.
The introduction of duties on European imports seems inevitable: it remains to be seen when and in which sectors this measure will be dropped. The most drastic scenario, repeatedly hypothesized by Trump, provides universal tariffs between 10% and 20% on all products from abroad. The impact could be significant, given that trade between the US and the EU is the world’s largest trading exchange.
In 2023 alone, trade in goods and services between the two powers reached 1,540 billion euros, covering almost 30% of global trade. If we look at goods alone, the volume of trade has even doubled in the last ten years. Faced with this prospect, Brussels is monitoring the situation carefully, aware that future decisions in Washington could redefine global economic balances.
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