Eecon blog(7/14〜)

 I will introduce about "European leaders react to 30% US tariffs. Preparations to take countermeasures accelerate."

U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement on the 12th that he would impose a 30% tariff on European Union goods from August 1st drew backlash from leaders of EU member states.

French President Macron expressed his "very strong regret" in a post on Twitter (formerly known as X), and called for "mobilizing all tools and accelerating preparations for effective countermeasures" in case an agreement is not reached.

Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez also warned on X that "economic openness and trade bring prosperity. Unfair tariffs destroy it." He called for "the EU constitutes the world's largest trading bloc and we should use that power to seek a fair agreement."

The EU plans to hold an ambassador-level meeting on the 13th and an emergency trade ministerial meeting on the 14th to discuss future responses. With the implementation date of retaliatory measures against the US steel and aluminum tariffs approaching on the 14th, the EU is being forced to make a difficult decision on whether to actually go ahead with the measures.

There is a high possibility that the EU will also impose retaliatory tariffs on the United States, which could escalate into a trade war, causing a decline in exports and imports between the two regions, which could have a negative impact on corporate profits and employment. As both are large countries and regions, this will also have an impact on Japan.