U.S. Trade Representative Hits Back at EU ‘Punitive’ Tariffs, Citing National Security Concerns

The United States has condemned the European Union’s retaliatory tariffs as an attack on its national security, accusing Brussels of hindering American efforts to reindustrialize.

The European Commission has announced countermeasures worth up to $28 billion in response to President Donald Trump’s 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports, which took effect Wednesday. The move marks an escalation in transatlantic trade tensions, with Brussels dismissing Washington’s measures as “unjustified” and rolling out its own levies on key American exports, including boats, bourbon and motorcycles.

In a strongly worded statement, Ambassador Jamieson Greer, U.S. Trade Representative in Washington, denounced the EU’s decision.

“For years, the European Union has opposed the United States’ efforts to reindustrialize,” he said. “The EU has rejected attempts under successive U.S. administrations to cooperate effectively on dealing with global excess capacity on steel, aluminum, and other sectors, employing measures that are too little and too late.”

Greer suggested that Brussels was quicker to punish the U.S. than to address deeper economic imbalances.

“If the EU acted as quickly to address global excess capacity as it does to punish the United States, we likely would be in a different situation today,” he said. “The EU’s punitive action completely disregards the national security imperatives of the United States – and indeed international security – and is yet another indicator that the EU’s trade and economic policies are out of step with reality.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen defended the move, arguing that Washington’s tariffs would hurt both sides of the Atlantic.

“The trade relations between the European Union and the U.S. are the biggest in the world. They have brought prosperity and security to millions of people, and trade has created millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic,” she said.

She described the tariffs as “bad for business, and even worse for consumers” but insisted that Brussels remained open to negotiations.

“We firmly believe that in a world fraught with geopolitical and economic uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with tariffs. We are ready to engage in meaningful dialogue,” she said.

The EU’s countermeasures will be rolled out in stages, beginning April 1 and fully in place by April 13. Brussels has described them as “swift and proportionate.”

With neither side backing down, the dispute threatens to deepen divisions between two of the world’s largest trading partners, with wider implications for global trade.