The European Union said the US under Trump was pushing both sides to the economic disaster with his tariffs, and there was no vision deal. The conversations were stuck, and officials from Brussels now warned the public that without the agreement reached soon, both economies were bleeding.
The standoff came after Trump, who was now back to the White House, first slapped the 20% role in all EU goods, then stopped for 90 days, reducing it to 10% for that time. But 25% tariffs on cars, steel, and aluminum are still in place and still hurt.
According to CNBCThe negotiations are stuck. The EU has frozen its own planned revenge today, preventing a set of counter-tariffs targeting € 21 billion ($ 24.1 billion) worth of US goods. Officials say they are trying to give both sides “space” to talk, but the clock is frustrating, and the freeze will not last forever.
Donohoe says the deal is possible but time runs out
Pascal Donohoe, head of Eurogroup and Ireland's financial ministers, said on Wednesday he still believes a deal could be made. “I believe to reach an agreement,” he told CNBC, “but at the same time, I know we have a lot of work to do to get to that point.”
He spoke in Washington, at the sides of IMF and World Bank Spring meetings, where most European leaders hope to find a central place on Trump's team.
Donohoe also said that with a wise use of the time left, both sides may at least put in a basis for preventing more economic illnesses, adding that:
“If we use the time in advance, we can create a framework where we can avoid steps to take on both sides of the Atlantic that can harm ourselves, get along with Europe, and get along with America.”
But development did not happen. No real compromise has been reached. And the testers worsened on Wednesday after the EU punished Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of euros each for destroying laws in digital competition in Europe. The timing cannot be worse. The fine added fuel to a burning pile of trade complaints and the environment was likely to be made in negotiating rooms even cooler.
Cuerpo and Heinen call for balance while trading numbers are large
Carlos Cuerpo, Spanish finance minister, said the situation was dangerous. In a conversation with CNBC's Carolin Roth, he warned that more than € 4.5 billion ($ 5.1 billion) in the trade between the EU and the US flowed each day.
“There is a specific figure, of 4.5 billion euros on the day -to -day basis throughout the Atlantic in terms of trade in goods and services -that is a treasure we need to protect,” he said. “We need to engage in an open and exposed communication between the two sides of the Atlantic, because there is a lot to lose if we can't get into a fair and balanced agreement.”
Cuerpo said the EU was entering the conversations with “an extended hand” and wanted to sign a fair deal. But he did not injure the damage he had done. “Let's not forget that under the current situation, most of the tariffs imposed by the US administration are already in place and affecting our companies.”
Eelco Heinen, Minister of Finance of the Netherlands, supported that. He called Trump's tariffs a kind of “taxation of goods” and said they were “very bad for consumers.” He warned the harm not just in numbers – about how companies react. Businesses are holding onto investment, waiting to see what happens. That pause slows down economic activity on both sides.
Meanwhile, the European Commission said the idea that Europe had some unfair advantage was bullshit. While the EU has a high trade trade of € 155.8 billion ($ 176.7 billion) with the US in 2023, it also has € 104 billion in service shortages. The total trading amount between both sides last year hit € 1.6 trillion, showing how hard these economies were.
EU's biggest exports in the US are machinery, vehicles, chemicals, merchandise, and pharmacists. Those are the things that will be more difficult if more tariffs live.
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