EU Targets Bourbon, Cars, Boeing in Countermeasures List

Bloomberg

a day ago

00:00
The European Union has finalized a list of counter measures to target U.S. goods worth €72 billion, including cars, Bourbon and Boeing aircraft. The measures represent the EU's response to President Trump's earlier so-called reciprocal tariffs. Bloomberg's demand news director, Charles Manson, is here with the details. Ross, what do we know then about the EU's countermeasures? Well, as you were saying, though, finalize this list of countermeasures. This is actually cut down from the initial list, which was over €90 billion. But it does include some essential items, including targeting Boeing, particularly the aircraft side, but then everything from medical equipment to plastics to agricultural equipment to musical equipment. It doesn't include military equipment, which should not be subject to any tariffs from the EU. But it is about sending a message to the U.S. that the European Union is prepared with very specific measures targeting certain U.S. goods in the event that this all disintegrates and there isn't a deal before the 1st of August. And some of these items that they're targeting very much with with an eye to the US midterm elections, even you're thinking about bourbon. Some of the states where bourbon comes from in the U.S., can they be key states in the US midterm elections for those companies and therefore for Republican politicians as well? And the message in all of this is that the EU wants to keep negotiating. Certainly we're seeing that happen. The impetus is to try and get a deal. They do want to avoid a broader trade conflict with the US. Certainly European companies want to avoid a broader trade conflict with the US. However, they're warning the US we are prepared. We have a specific list of things we're going to enact if we have to. We need to have all options on the table. What are the current expectations, Roz, that maybe there is a deal by August the first between the EU and between Washington? Well, the climate's become a bit trickier because Donald Trump keeps referring, excuse me, to his letters as deals. These are not deals. This is the US imposing a tariff rate on countries or blocs including the EU, and negotiating in that climate is quite difficult because you're trying to address very complex issues, not just tariffs, but non-tariff barriers that are seen as existing to trade, very complex conversations going on about sectors for the EU, steel, aluminum, cars, you name it. And so you need to have a bit of a climate of trust going on there. I mean, Donald Trump said yesterday he's willing to keep talking with the EU. Certainly, we know that the chief negotiator was on the phone last night with the US commerce secretary. So those conversations are going on, but they're getting to a deadline now of August the first. That's the fresh deadline and there's a lot it seems to wade through. And so the EU is quite wisely saying, well, we have to have a lot of issues in our back pocket, including these potential countermeasures.