The European Union is open to talking about lowering tariffs on cars and other products to avoid a trade conflict with the US, the bloc’s top trade official said Wednesday in Washington.

EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic told a crowd at the American Enterprise Institute, "We are ready to discuss lowering the tariffs, even eliminating the tariffs, let's say for industrial products." "Including prepared to examine the car tariffs." Sefcovic is in Washington to hold talks with President Donald Trump's trade team. Later on Wednesday, he will meet with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, trade representative designate Jamieson Greer, and Kevin Hassett, the president's main economic advisor. The EU commissioner said that the bloc will do everything it can to prevent a situation where tariffs escalate. If the US acts in line with Trump’s threats, “we will have no choice but to respond firmly and swiftly,” he said.“But we do hope to avoid this scenario, meaning the unnecessary pain of measures and countermeasures.”

Trump announced that starting March 12, he will impose a 25% tax on steel and aluminium imports. He also plans to introduce other trade taxes, including ones that match the policies of other countries if they create barriers to U.S. trade. He specifically mentioned the EU’s value-added tax as an example of such a policy. Trump also proposed higher auto taxes, specifically targeting Europeans. He has called on the EU to reduce the 10% duty on American automobiles, which is higher than the US's 2.5% levy. However, unless the reduction is included in a formal trade deal, any such action would compel the bloc to drop levies for all members of the World Trade Organisation. 

The executive branch of the EU, the European Commission, stated on Tuesday that it has not yet made a concrete proposal to lower tariffs on US auto imports. According to the commission, "any tariff reductions must be mutually beneficial and negotiated within a fair and rules-based framework." The European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, stated on Tuesday that it has not yet made a concrete proposal to lower tariffs on US auto imports. The panel stated that any tariff reductions must be advantageous to both parties and agreed within a just and regulation-based framework. According to him, EU regulations "do not have a discriminatory nature, they are not aimed at US big tech." Officials from the Trump administration have voiced their displeasure at the unfair treatment of US tech companies in Europe.    

Germany's Economy Minister, Robert Habeck, said in an interview with ARD (a public broadcaster) that Europe might bring back the same kind of tariffs it used during Donald Trump's first term. Back then, Trump imposed tariffs on nearly $7 billion worth of European steel and aluminium. In response, the EU hit back by placing tariffs on well-known American companies, such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles and Levi's jeans. The dispute cooled down in 2021 when the US introduced a tariff-rate quota system, and the EU agreed to pause its countermeasures. When asked how the EU would react to the new Trump tariffs, Habeck cited those measures. “They actually hit the economy, especially the Trump-supporting states, hard,” he said. “Europe has counter-measures up its sleeve.” Engaging in a tariff war with the US could harm the European economy and destabilise the EU politically, especially at a sensitive time when Trump's dealings with Russia have unsettled the bloc.