The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, would expect to get the qualified majority of member states that it would require to trigger the ACI, the people said.
The ACI is the EU’s most potent trade tool and a growing number of member states are pushing for its use if a deal isn’t reached. The instrument is primarily designed as a deterrent with its activation requiring a qualified majority of member states to support the move. The ACI would enable the EU to launch a broad range of retaliatory actions, including new taxes on US tech giants, targeted curbs on US investments, and limiting access to the EU market.
The 15% tariff baseline under discussion would include the most favoured nation rate, currently averaging 4.8% for EU-US trade, which would then represent an additional 10% compared with the current situation. The same rate is expected to be applied also to sectors like pharmaceutical products or chips, one of the people said.
The EU’s 15% rate could have limited exemptions linked to aviation, some medical devices and generic medicines, several spirits, and a specific set of manufacturing equipment that the US needs, Bloomberg previously reported.
Brussels is also pushing to shield the bloc from future sectoral tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semi-conductors and the two sides have been discussing a ceiling on those levies.
Trump announced a tariff deal with Japan on Tuesday that featured across-the-board 15% duties on imports — lower than the 25% level threatened. That also means that the tariff on Japanese autos is lower than the current 25% rate on major car exporters including the EU.
