The European Union's response to US tariffs

US steel and aluminium tariffs have already hit the EU, car tariffs will come into effect next week, and more tariffs will probably follow. The EU prefers to negotiate, but will simultaneously start the process of retaliation. Additional sectoral US tariffs will probably be met with rebalancing tariffs in the EU. But Trump’s reciprocal tariffs could pave the way for the EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument. Tariffs are the EU’s main countermeasure, but the EU can also impose trade restrictions on goods and services, restrict foreign direct investment flows, exclude US companies from public procurement tenders and suspend the protection of intellectual property rights. Any European response will probably take at least two to three months.