Maroš Šefčovič

Published on
24/11/2025 – 18:20 GMT+1

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that Washington can reduce duties on EU steel and aluminium but only if the Europeans agree to ease the implementation of digital rules following a meeting in Brussels on Monday.

Lutnick, who is a close ally of President Donald Trump and negotiated on his behalf a trade deal with the EU over the summer introducing 15% tariffs, said that European should reassess the way they implement their flagship policies on digital regulation if they want further tariff relief. Lutnick did not call to remove the rules but did say the way in which they are applied should be “more balanced” for American tech companies.

Brussels is desperately seeking to obtain a reduction of the 50% tariffs that the Trump administration imposed on European aluminium and steel in June under pressure from the industry.

The US does want the EU “to put these rules away, but find the balanced approach that works for us,” he told reporters in Brussels. “Then we will, together with them, handle the steel and aluminium issues.”

“The enforcement is quite aggressive at times”

Lutnick and US trade representative Jamieson Greer were in Brussels meeting with EU27 trade ministers and Commission boss Maroš Šefčovič for a working lunch.

The implementation of the trade deal signed over summer was at the center of the discussion, which was “open and direct,” according to an EU diplomat.

The EU and the US clinched a trade deal in July in which the US tripled tariffs on EU while Europeans agreed to cut tariffs for most US industrial goods at 0%. US tariffs on EU steel and aluminium remain stuck at a much higher rate of 50% despite the deal.

Lutnick and Greer also met EU Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen who stressed in a statement the importance of the Digital Market Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA), the two landmark digital regulations applied in the EU. The comments suggest the Commission is not ready to water them further for the time being.

To counter the US offensive on its digital legislation, EU Trade Commissioner Šefčovič said that the EU is working hard to explain its legislation to the US and stressed that there no discriminatory practices applied to US companies. The rules, he argued, are the same for everyone operating in the EU single market regardless of their origin.

Still, the US insists that is not the case and American Big Tech is being punished.

“The enforcement is quite aggressive at times,” Greer said about EU tech rules, adding that the US government wants to make sure their companies do not see their global revenues “affected” by foreign rules. In his comments, Greer’s tone was severe.

Brussels recently launched investigations against Amazon and Microsoft under the DMA which prevents big platforms from abusing their dominance in the tech market. It also hit Google with a €2.95 billion over antitrust rules despite the threats from the US.

The United States’ Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick are arriving in Brussels on Monday for what is expected to be a tense showdown with EU trade ministers.

After months of recriminations on both sides of the Atlantic over the implementation of this summer’s trade deal, the EU and the US are now expected to confront their most contentious differences head-on.

Washington will press to fast-track the deal’s rollout while pushing the bloc to scrap EU legislation it considers unfair to US companies, while Brussels will seek additional exemptions from the 15% US tariffs on its exportsand warn its counterparts about the potential fallout of US investigations into European products.

Ahead of the meeting, EU diplomats said they expected the discussion to be “frank”.

Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and US president Donald Trump clinched a trade deal in July after weeks of negotiations in which the EU tried to minimise the impact of Washington’s newly aggressive trade agenda. In the end, von der Leyen was able to strike a deal that EU-produced goods arriving in the US would be taxed at a rate of 15% while Brussels lifted its duties on most US products.

Presented by the Commission as the most advantageous deal it could get, the agreement has been widely criticised across the EU. The European Parliament, which has to vote on the Commission’s proposal to remove tariffs on US goods, is set to amend the deal and is discussing a 18-month suspension clause.

The US is complaining that the EU’s legislative agenda is moving too slowly. EU lawmakers will vote on the text in January and they should agree on a common text with EU member states next March or April – a timescale radically longer than the Trump administration’s preference.

Greer raised the issue in a meeting with European Parliament president Roberta Metsola last Friday.

EU faces criticism “with good confidence”

The EU is ready to face US criticism “with good confidence” an EU diplomat said, noting that the legislative process in Brussels could have taken a lot longer.

“To my knowledge, the US administration has not taken its decisions through Congress, so it doesn’t take quite as long in the US,” another EU diplomat said, implyingthat the US trade agenda was mainly decided from the White House.

The EU plans to show unity by handing over a list of proposed exemptions to the 15% tariffs they hope to obtain from the Americans. The list includes products such as wines, spirits and pasta.

“American friends are very much aware of where the European Union would like to see tariff reductions,” the same EU diplomat said.

For the Commission, which has competence to negotiate with Washington, the list of exemptions “remains a priority,” according to its deputy chief spokesperson, Arianna Podesta.

The EU is also concerned about the future of its steel exports. The US already imposes 50% tariffs on steel and aluminium, and has extended them to some 407 derivatives. A consultation already underway may see further derivatives added to the list.

As EU diplomats see it, adding tariffs on steel derivatives would go against the whole “spirit” of this summer’s agreement. The same goes for investigations still open by Washington into products such as pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and medical devices.

EU investments will also be on the agenda. Greer and Lutnick will meet in the afternoon, EU business representatives with EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič.

The trade deal includes an EU pledge of €600 billion in investments in the US even though Brussels has no direct control over the private sector, which is the only force capable of actually delivering those investments.

Monday’s meetings will not be an easy task for the Europeans, as US pressure has been unrelenting since Donald Trump returned to the White House, with the president repeatedly threatening new tariffs or targeting EU legislation he deems too restrictive for US companies.

However, the EU has so far not looked intimidated, and is continuing to enforce the digital legislation that Trump and his administration have condemned.

In the last few weeks, Brussels has launched antitrust investigations against Amazon and Microsoft and hit Google with a €2.95 billion for abusing its dominant position in the advertising technology industry – moves that have not gone unnoticed in Washington.

Published on 17/11/2025 – 17:31 GMT+1
•Updated
17:34

The European Commission confirmed on Monday that US trade representative Jamieson Greer will meet EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič on 23 November in Brussels.

The meeting is expected to be tense as the US is pressuring the European Union to revise legislative action it considers restrictive for US companies and speed up the implementation of the deal agreed between President Donald Trump and Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen which would cut tariffs for all American industrial goods to zero, deploy massive investments in the US and commit to purchase US energy.

The Commission introduced a legislation in August, mostly lowering tariffs on US goods, to secure some relief on duties in cars and car parts, deemed crucial for the European industry. Still, the European Parliament and the Council have not adopted the legislation, testing Washington’s patience.

Greer and Šefčovič will meet the day before US secretary for commerce Howard Lutnick, a close ally of President Trump, attends a gathering of EU trade ministers next Monday in Brussels.

The “Turnberry agreement” concluded between the EU and the US in July includes that the EU will pay 15% tariffs on its exports to the US and will reduce to 0% its tariffs on most of US goods arriving in the EU.

Still, the US is pushing for more, pressuring on the EU to scrap its digital and climate regulations regarded as “non-tariff” barriers to trade by Washington.

EU lawmakers hope to amend EU-US trade deal

Brussels has insisted that it will not cede on its “sovereign” right to legislate, including big US tech.

On 13 November, the Commission launched an investigation into whether Google is unfairly deprioritising news in search listing. The probe was opened under the Digital Market Act (DMA), designed to track abuse of dominance in the tech market. The US has criticised European digital legislation for what they consider is an unfair tax on US Big Tech.

Washington’s offensive also targets the landmark EU corporate supply-chain legislation adopted last year which requires companies to check their supply chains for dodgy environmental and labour practices.

At the beginning of October, it sent a document to the Commission requesting that US companies be exempted from this legislation on corporate due diligence.

Tensions may increase further as Brussels insists it wants to see some of the terms of the July deal changed to reflect a more balanced relation. The Commission came under intense scrutiny from the European parliament over a deal that was considered detrimental to Europe’s interests and too favorable for the US.

EU lawmakers say they are ready to amend the terms of the EU-US deal.

The head of the European Parliament’s trade committee, German MEP Bernd Lange (S&D) has presented a draft report that calls for maintaining EU tariffs on US steel and aluminium steel since the US continue to impose theirs at a rate of 50%.

It also proposes that the tariff removal on US goods should apply for 18 months and only be extended based ⁠on a Commission’s report of their impact on the EU market.

The EU member states and the Parliament hope to agree on the legislation by the spring.

All critical strategic supplies can be used as a weapon against the European Union, Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told Euronews in an exclusive interview.

The EU is dealing with the fallout from the Dutch government’s takeover of Nexperia, a chipmaker, citing national security. The move from the Hague has prompted a clash between Europe and China over who controls the company and its finished products, resulting in Chinese restrictions on chip exports.

Šefčovič, an experienced politician who oversees the all-important trade portfolio for the EU, said the episode highlights the complexities of the global supply chain as well as the risks associated with critical dependencies on third countries outside the EU.

“It very much underlines the lessons we’ve learned over the past years, and it doesn’t concern only China. Today, everything can be weaponised,” Šefčovič told Euronews. For Europe, he argued, “it started with [Russian] gas, then it continued with critical raw materials and high and low-end chips. It can all be weaponised.”

Šefčovič has been in contact with Chinese and Dutch authorities since the spat started more than a month ago. The Dutch government took control of Nexperia on September 30, fearing that the company would be dismantled and relocated to China. The Dutch authorities remain worried that the move could also involve a transfer of sensitive technology.

The Chinese responded by blocking chip exports, triggering concerns in Europe and around the world about a potential global shortage of automotive chips.

The impasse eased on 30 October following a meeting between the Chinese and the United States in South Korea, where both sides agreed to a truce in their bilateral trade dispute.

“China is taking appropriate measures to ensure trade from Nexperia’s facilities in China resumes, so that production of crucial chips can flow to the rest of the world,” a White House statement read.

Šefčovič suggested that the partial restoration of exports points to the start of a resolution to the standoff, but reiterated that the debacle was a warning of the urgent need to diversify.

“We are getting information from the car manufacturers to the spare parts producers that they are getting these chips,” he told Euronews.

“But we are only at the beginning of resolving this problem, so we will continue to talk with our Dutch colleagues and Chinese authorities.”

Vincent Karremans, the Dutch minister at the centre of the storm with Beijing, said in an interview that he would do it all again in the same manner and signalled that the episode is a warning of the large dependencies Europe has built over the years.

EU preparing new doctrine on economic security

The Nexperia saga is the latest incident between China and the EU over the supply of strategic components used across industries from cars to defence.

It also highlights how these materials are becoming a political tool for exerting economic pressure. After weeks of tensions that have impacted the European industry, the EU has secured a deal with China to ease restrictions on some rare-earth exports.

The Commission is working on a plan due to be presented next month that addresses some of these weaknesses. Šefčovič said the global competition to secure rare earths, critical components, and a stable supply chain required a unified approach.

“We have to work a little bit more like Japan, where they’re stockpiling some of the critical raw materials, some of that critical technologies and critical chips”, said Šefčovič.

“I think this would be one of the lessons which we want to bring in the new economic security doctrine, which we’ll be presenting before the end of the year.”

The EU has been actively pursuing a policy of de-risking, but not de-coupling from China, which would keep the door open to trade while applying safeguards in key areas deemed strategic for the EU and closing loopholes into the single market.

“Economic security and effective export controls would work only if they’re applied in harmony as homogeneous across the EU,” Šefčovič said.

“Those who want to abuse the system will always find a weak spot to penetrate the European market – and then put the whole European economy in jeopardy,” he concluded.

Published on 13/11/2025 – 18:01 GMT+1
•Updated
18:04

The EU 27 economy ministers reached an agreement on Thursday to terminate the €150 customs duty exemption that currently applies to parcels coming from non-EU countries.

The decision will impact Chinese e-commerce platforms, such as Shein and Temu, which are flooding the EU market with small parcels. In France, Shein is also at the centre of a scandal, facing legal proceedings over the sale of child-like sex dolls on its platform.

“This is a defining moment,” European Commissioner for Trade Maroš Šefčovič said after the meeting, adding that the move “sends a strong signal that Europe is serious about fair competition and defending the interests of its businesses.”

A whopping 4.6 billion parcels were imported in the EU in 2024, EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis recalled on Thursday.

He warned that the trend is “dramatically increasing,” adding that 91% of small parcels come from China.

The decision to remove the exemption on small parcels is part of a broader overhaul of EU customs rules which could take time.

Urgency to act as Chinese goods flood market

The 27 member states are expected to meet again in December to agree on a temporary system that would enable the implementation of the measures.

EU trade commissioner Šefčovič said that the EU will be ready to move as early as 2026.

“Ending the exemption will close long-standing loopholes that have been routinely exploited to avoid customs duties,” a European diplomat said.

The agreement reached Thursday by EU ministers means customs duties will be payable from “the first euro” on all goods entering the EU, like value-added tax, according to the same official.

The latest moves signal the tide may be turning for Chinese e-commerce platforms that have been moving aggressively into the European market.

A €2 levy for small packages proposed in July by the European Commission is already being discussed by the 27 member states.

Individual member states are also introducing national measures. Italy is working on a tax to defend its fashion industry from a wave of cheaper Chinese orders which national producers cannot compete with on pricing.

“We are satisfied with the measure introducing a tax on small parcels from non-EU countries, a phenomenon that is destroying retail trade,” Italian Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Thursday.

EuroCommerce, which represents EU retailers in Brussels, first sounded the alarm over the increase in orders coming from Chinese platforms last month and called on European authorities to act in a coordinated manner.

“A swift, harmonised EU solution is essential, as such proposals risk fragmentation and undermining the level playing field,” Christel Delberghe, director general of EuroCommerce, said.