Europe hopes that Trump’s tariffs will arrange, but prepares for the worst

European leaders were preparing for “Trump’s trade war” – but the reality of the American tariff of 20% still came as a shock.

“This decision is a disaster for the economic world,” said French Prime Minister François Bayro.

“The consequences will be terrible for millions of people around the world,” said the head of the EU Ursula von der Leyen, who was on a trip to Central Asia.

An EU message, which is tasked with answering on behalf of its 27 Member States, is that Europe is ready to negotiate with the US, but at the same time she is ready to return.

EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic seeks to talk to tariffs with his American colleagues on Friday.

“We will behave calmly, carefully in a phase, unique way, as we calibrate our answer, allowing the appropriate time to talk,” he said.

For every European country of Tariff, President Donald Trump will be a serious blow, and national governments are trying to alleviate the fear of industry and trade.

The Italian Giorgia Meloni – which until Wednesday seemed more hesitated by the others to take revenge on Natura against the US – cleaned her diary and hurriedly invited ministers and business leaders on the emergency room.

Italy exports 1.6 billion euros (€ 1.35 billion) produces agricultural colors and wine worth 2 billion euros in the US, said Alessandro Apolito from the main organization of farmers in the country of Coldiretti for the BBC.

In addition to economic losses, he says there is a risk that US consumers will contact imitations, noting a market share that would otherwise move on to authentic Italian products.

In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez rejected Trump’s claim that the EU has imposed 39% of tariffs on US goods, insisting in reality that it is only 3%.

“It’s just an excuse to punish countries and the implementation of sterile protectionism. A trade war will affect everything, but it will hit the one that imposes it most,” he warned.

The Spanish Chamber of Commerce is afraid of 14% of exports in the US, especially in machines and electrical equipment. Sánchez announced a response plan of € 14.1 billion to help business in finance and look for new markets outside the USA.

Slovakia is more exposed to most EU countries, due to its high relying on industrial exports, and some economists warn of a deep decline in economic production of at least 2.5% in just two years.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned of a potential fall of 0.4% in his economic production this year.

Even before Trump’s announcement, the French government revised the expected growth to 0.7%this year.

The French wine and alcoholic beverage sector will be particularly affected. The head of one of the main wine organizations, Jérôme Bauer, warned of a net loss of 1 billion euros (£ 835 million) in the French wine industry.

Italian winemakers also hold your breath.

“We have stopped exports for almost two weeks. Everything has been paralyzed because clients do not bring orders, and importers do not import,” says Stefano Leone of Marchesi Antinori, a winery in Tuscany with more than six centuries of history.

The US makes up 12 to 13% of the total sales, and Leone says the company is in a state of limbs.

“We are waiting for us to understand what decisions, depending on any countermeasures that the European Union can adopt in response to the United States. We hope that some form of negotiations will happen and lead to a concrete outcome.”

The feelings in the European markets were glittering because investors sold shares that were considered the most endangered Trump tariffs. One of the large German companies, Adidas, recorded 12% of its value deleted from the stock market.

Small companies as well as large will be affected.

“This is the first year in which we started exporting to the United States, and the tariffs are still directly affecting us,” says Rocco Mangiaracin, who runs a small family company, producing 20,000 bottles of olive oil a year in Sicily.

“Just a week ago we sent the first 900 bottles to the US market.”

The spokeswoman for the French G

Europe’s largest economy, Germany, quickly called on a “unprecedented attack on the international trading system, free trade and global supply chains”.

But Germany is still waiting for the chancellor waiting for Friedrich Merz to form a government, so the acting chancellor Olaf Scholz pointed out that the “strongest interior market in the world with 450 million consumers” gave the power of Europe.

So how will the EU answer and can it remain united?

He had already presented the measured answer.

From mid -April, the first EU tariff package worth up to 26 billion euros will be hit on American goods, in retaliation a 25% American tariff export to EU Celik and Aluminum, which has already been announced in March. They are returned to give space for a negotiating solution. If they continue, they will cover a wide range of agricultural, food and textile goods.

Discussions are currently ongoing on an even bigger package of countermeasures that should come in late April.

In the words von der Leyena, Europe “holds a lot of tickets”. Further measures would not only include US goods, but also his digital services.

Trump complains of American trade deficit with the EU, but US services have a trade surplus of 109 billion euros with the EU, according to Brussels.

If the EU decides to impose tariffs or restrictions on large technological services or limit American approach to public contracts, it could use what some marked “Big Bazook” – more Odrasto known as the Ko-Coeceion instrument (ACI).

This should be the majority support of the EU Member States, but it is a powerful weapon when European companies are under threat.

Peter Dige Thagesen, chief of geopolitics on the Danish Committee on Industry, told the BBC that Trump “threw a manual grenade right into a global trade, creating enormous uncertainty.”

He said US tariffs would have exported the smallest to the US to the US. While the EU had to respond proportionally, he said he had to continue negotiating to avoid a deeper trade war.

While most European leaders quickly condemned US tariffs, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto handed over the EU’s legs to the EU’s feet. Hungarian leader, Viktor Orban, is widely considered Trump’s greatest ally in Europe.

“It has been proven again that in Brussels incompetent people run European institutions, which also suffer from very serious Trump-phobia,” said Szijjarto.

Although Norway is not EU Member State, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said that the US decision was to impose 15% of the “bad news” tariff, which would have consequences for many Norwegian companies and jobs.

Norway is primarily an exporter and Minister of Finance Jens Stoltenberg fears that he could hit him with a “triple squeeze”. Not only Trump’s tariffs and lower growth, but also EU countermeasures.

It could be a trade war with many victims.

Additional reporting Giulia Tommasi in Rome.