European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday the EU had offered the United States a bilateral tariff exemption for cars and other industrial goods as it works to avert an all-out transatlantic trade war.
Last week, Trump announced a spate of tariffs on goods imported into the EU from almost every country in the world. The Republican president slapped a 20% levy on products from the EU bloc.
Since then, many nations like China have imposed retaliatory measures against the US, with Xi Jinping‘s nation announcing its own 34% tariff on American goods.
‘We stand ready to negotiate with the United States. Indeed, we have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods, as we have successfully done with many other trading partners,’ von der Leyen said.
‘The offer was made long before and repeatedly, for example, in automotive sector,’ she said, without providing a precise timeline.
She added that ‘there was not an adequate reaction’ from Washington. Trump last night told reporters media that the EU’s proposed deal was highly unlikely to be signed.
He said: ‘The European Union‘s been very bad to us. They’re going to have to buy their energy from us, because they need it and they’re going to have to buy it from us. They can buy it, we can knock off $350bn in one week.’
‘Europe is always ready for a good deal. So we keep it on the table,’ von der Leyen said after Trump’s comment.
Last week, Donald Trump (pictured) announced a spate of tariffs on goods imported into the EU from almost every country in the world
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (pictured) said: ‘Europe is always ready for a good deal’
European index funds have dropped drastically in the last few days
The commission later clarified that the offer was part of the ongoing negotiations between EU trade chief Maros Šefčovič and the US authorities.
Šefčovič, the EU commissioner for trade, said that the EU may soon do the same, but would prefer negotiation a proper deal with America.
He said: ‘Right now we are in the early stages of discussions, because the US view tariffs not as a tactical step, but as a corrective measure.’
The trade czar added: ‘While the EU remains open to and strongly prefers negotiations, we will not wait endlessly.’ He listed EU actions including retaliatory countermeasures.
Von der Leyen repeated Europe’s threat that should negotiations fail, the commission was ‘prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests’.
She also vowed the EU would protect itself from a flow of cheap goods into bloc, especially from China, in an expected indirect impact from Trump’s extra levies.
Billionaire US presidential adviser Elon Musk sparked confusion at the weekend when he said he hoped Europe and the United States would agree to join in a free-trade zone – days after US leader Donald Trump unleashed heavy global trade tariffs.
Europe’s reaction to Musk’s comments was mixed on Monday, with French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin describing it as ‘a great idea’ before talks with his EU counterparts in Luxembourg.
A stock trader monitors the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) in South Tangerang, Banten, on April 8, 2025
Traders work the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani went further, describing how his ‘dream is to have a transatlantic European market that is a single market where there are no tariffs’.
But Germany, the EU’s biggest economy, poured cold water on the idea and suggested Musk was motivated by fear that trade turmoil would hurt his companies including Tesla.
‘If he has something to say, he should go to his president and say, ‘before we talk about zero tariffs, let’s stop the nonsense, the mess you have just made in the last week’. So this is ridiculous,’ German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said.
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