USA duties, all EU countermeasures in mid -April

“In the light of the recent announcement that the United States are planning to introduce additional duties on April 2 – he told the MEPs – we are now evaluating to align the times of the two series of EU countermeasures”, the reactivation of those already adopted and then suspended and the new ones, “so as to be able to consult the Member States at the same time on both line -ups”. This, he continued, “will give us more time for negotiations to try to find a mutually acceptable solution”.

As a result, he added, “All EU countermeasures announced on March 12 would enter into force in mid -April. This approach would allow us to provide a firm, proportionate, solid and well calibrated response to US measures. While, at the same time, I was commissioned by President Ursula von der Leyen to continue the interviews to try to find a solution with the United States “.

Lagarde: “25% use duties can reduce 0.3% GDP Eurozona 2025”

“According to the analysis of the ECB, a 25% US duty on imports from Europe would reduce the growth of the euro area of ​​about 0.3 percentage points in the first year. A European response in the form of an increase in duties on imports from the United States would make this reduction rise to about half a percentage point,” said the president of the ECB, Christine Lagarde today, during an audition to the European Parliament, underlining that ” Any estimate is subject to high uncertainty “.

The greatest impact on economic growth would focus in the first year following the increase in duties, and then mitigated over time, however leaving a persistent negative effect on the production level, continued Lagarde, remembering that the euro area, “very open to trade and deeply integrated into global supply chains, especially with the United States, is particularly exposed to changes in commercial policies”.

Furthermore, if the US imposed duties of 25% and the EU responded in tone, the inflation prospects “would become significantly more uncertain. In the short term, the EU’s retaliation measures and a weakening of the euro exchange rate – due to a lower US demand for European products – could increase the inflation of about half a percentage point”, said the president of the European Central Bank, adding that in the middle term the effect would “Since the lower economic activity would reduce inflationary pressures”. “I want to underline once again that these estimates are subject to very high uncertainty, given that the impact of the tariff increases could be not linear, for example due to a significant reconfiguration of global supply chains,” said Lagarde.