Overview

• President Trump announced 30% tariffs on imports from the European Union and Mexico effective August 1
• He justified the levies by citing a trade imbalance with the EU and Mexico’s role in illicit drug trafficking
• EU trade ministers met in Brussels on July 14 to coordinate a response after extending their suspension of steel and aluminum countermeasures until early August
• The measures extend a US tariff regime that will impose duties above 10% on roughly sixty countries, with Canada facing a potential 35% rate without a deal
• Precautionary restocking in the US has driven a 6% rise in transpacific shipping volumes this year, leading to one-day queues at major European ports such as Rotterdam and Antwerp