Details
- Status
- Closed
- Opening date
- Deadline
- Department
- Directorate-General for Trade and Economic Security
- Country or region
- United States
- Trade topics
- Enforcement and protection
Target audience
Anyone who is affected by the United States’ measures and by possible EU measures in response is invited to submit their views.
You may submit your input by replying to the questionnaire in EU Survey in any of the official languages of the EU. You may request that your submission is treated confidentially
Why we are consulting
The United States introduced new tariff measures with respect to imports of products originating in or from the EU, as follows:
- On 26 March 2025, the United States introduced 25% ad valorem duties on imports of passenger vehicles and light trucks, and on certain automobile parts originating in or from inter alia the EU, as listed in Annex I to the Presidential proclamation 10908 of 26 March 2025.[1] These measures are effective from 3 April 2025 as regards automobiles and at the latest as of 3 May 2025 as regards components, and with an unlimited duration.
- On 2 April 2025, the United States introduced universal tariffs on imports of products originating in or from inter alia the EU. As of 5 April 2025, the baseline 10% universal tariff applies to all products imported into the United States, except those listed in Annex II of the Presidential Executive Order 14257 of 2 April 2025.[2] The application of the country-specific tariff, which was to replace the baseline level tariff set at a 20% ad valorem duty rate with respect to the EU as provided in Annex I of the Executive Order 14257 of 2 April 2025, is delayed until 9 July 2025.
- On 4 April 2025, the United States expanded the scope of the 25% ad valorem duties introduced with the Presidential proclamation 10895 of 10 February 2025 and with effect from 12 March 2025, to include beer and empty aluminium cans[3] with effect from 4 April 2025, with an unlimited duration.
The measures described above are referred to as the “United States’ measures.”
Regulation (EU) No 654/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 (the Enforcement Regulation)[4] provides for the legal basis for the EU to suspend concessions or other obligations under international trade agreements, with the intention of rebalancing concessions or other obligations in the trade relations with third countries, when the treatment accorded to goods from the EU is altered in a way that affects the EU's interests.
The Enforcement Regulation applies, in particular, for the rebalancing of concessions or other obligations, which is foreseen in Article 8 of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards.
Where action is necessary to safeguard the EU's interests in such cases, the EU may take appropriate commercial policy measures in response, on the basis of objective criteria. As envisaged in Article 5 of the Enforcement Regulation, the commercial policy measures may consist of, inter alia, the suspension of tariff concessions and the imposition of new or increased customs duties.
These commercial policy measures must be substantially equivalent to the level of concessions or other obligations affected by the third country's measure and must be determined on the basis of the following criteria, where relevant, in light of available information and of the EU's general interest:
- effectiveness in inducing compliance of third countries with international trade rules;
- potential to provide relief to economic operators within the EU, affected by third country measures;
- availability of alternative sources of supply for the goods concerned, in order to avoid or minimise any negative impact on downstream industries, contracting authorities or entities, or final consumers within the EU;
- avoidance of disproportionate administrative complexity and costs in the application of the measures;
- any specific criteria that may be established in international trade agreements.
[1] Presidential Proclamation 10908 of March 26, 2025 Adjusting Imports of Automobiles and Automobile Parts Into the United States.
[2] Presidential Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025 Regulating Imports With a Reciprocal Tariff To Rectify Trade Practices That Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits
[3] Notice by the Industry and Security Bureau of April 4, 2025 Implementation of Duties on Aluminum Derivatives Beer and Empty Aluminum Cans Pursuant to Proclamation 10895 Adjusting Imports of Aluminum Into the United States.
[4] Regulation (EU) No 654/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 concerning the exercise of the Union's rights for the application and enforcement of international trade rules and amending Council Regulation (EC) No 3286/94 laying down Community procedures in the field of the common commercial policy in order to ensure the exercise of the Community's rights under international trade rules, in particular those established under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (OJ L 189, 27.6.2014, p. 50), amended by Regulation (EU) 2021/167 of the European Parliament and the Council of 10 February 2021 (OJ L 49, 12.2.2021, p. 1).
Respond to the consultation
Additional information
The Commission is currently assessing the appropriate parameters of possible measures for the purposes of rebalancing concessions or other obligations in the trade relations with the United States and to safeguard the EU’s interests in line with the Enforcement Regulation.
The Commission is considering the following commercial policy measures, as envisaged in Article 5 of the Enforcement Regulation:
- imposition of increased additional customs duties on imports of certain products originating in or from the United States (further as “custom duties”).
- imposition of export duties or non-tariff export restrictions on certain products exported from the Union to the United States (further as “export restrictions”).
The measures may affect the imports or exports of the products listed in the list below, or a subset of them.
Use of information and confidentiality
To receive full consideration, written comments submitted as part of this information gathering should be as detailed as possible and include supporting information. You may upload a supporting document containing the consolidated supporting information at the end of the questionnaire.
In line with the Enforcement Regulation, information received pursuant to this notice will be used only for the purpose for which it was requested.
Neither the European Parliament, nor the Council, nor the Commission, nor Member States, nor their respective officials shall reveal any information of a confidential nature received pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 654/2014, without specific permission from the supplier of such information.
The supplier of information may request that information supplied be treated as confidential. In such cases, it must be accompanied by a non-confidential summary which presents the information in a generalised form or a statement of the reasons why the information cannot be summarised. If it appears that a request for confidentiality is not justified and if the supplier is unwilling either to make the information public or to authorise its disclosure in generalised or summary form, the information in question may be disregarded. The confidential treatment will not preclude the disclosure of general information by the institutions of the EU and the authorities of the Member States. Such disclosure must take into account the legitimate interest of the parties concerned in not having their business secrets divulged.
Information received pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 654/2014 may be subject to a request for access to documents under EU Regulation 1049/2001 on public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents[1]. In such cases, the request will be assessed on the basis of the conditions set out in Regulation 1049/2001 and in accordance with applicable data protection rules.
[1] Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents OJ L 145, 31/05/2001, p. 43–48.