Listeners, welcome to the European Union Tariff News and Tracker, where we break down what the latest US trade moves under Donald Trump mean for the European Union.

According to the Tax Policy Center’s “Tracking the Trump Tariffs” project, the United States now applies a general minimum tariff of 10 percent on virtually all imported goods, with higher “reciprocal” rates targeting specific partners based on trade imbalances. The key headline for this podcast: after a tense spring of escalating measures, the US and the European Union reached a trade deal that set a new reciprocal tariff rate of 15 percent on EU goods entering the US. The Tax Policy Center notes that this 15 percent rate is now the benchmark the Trump administration is using for the EU, replacing a patchwork of earlier exemptions and product‑specific measures.

At the same time, sector‑specific reports are highlighting how this is playing out on the ground. FloralDaily reports that President Trump has announced a 20 percent import tariff on all products from the European Union for the US floral and horticultural sector, layered on top of the 10 percent global minimum. Industry voices quoted by FloralDaily warn that it is not just the higher costs that hurt, but the sudden uncertainty around how long these tariffs will last and whether more hikes are coming.

Those concerns are echoed more broadly in Europe, but there are also signs of resilience. Brussels Signal reports that European Central Bank executive board member Isabel Schnabel recently said the European Union has “adapted quicker” than expected to the shock of US tariffs. According to Brussels Signal’s coverage, EU exporters have been re‑routing supply chains, passing some costs along, and in some cases shifting production closer to US markets to stay competitive despite higher border taxes.

Back in Washington, the Tax Policy Center estimates that the full suite of Trump tariffs announced through early April 2025 would raise trillions of dollars in revenue over the next decade, but at the cost of lower real incomes for US households and slower trade growth. That trade‑off is central to the ongoing debate: supporters in the US argue that higher tariffs on the European Union are necessary to correct long‑standing trade imbalances, while critics on both sides of the Atlantic warn that these measures function as a hidden tax on consumers and a drag on investment.

For EU policymakers, the question now is whether to keep relying on adaptation and sectoral support, or to respond with further counter‑measures that risk deepening the transatlantic rift.

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