EU trade committee head says new US tariffs on EU goods would be ‘unacceptable’

A senior EU lawmaker stated on Wednesday that any new US tariffs on European Union goods would be completely unacceptable. The lawmaker also pushed back against critics, rejecting claims that the EU has failed to halt trade in forced labour goods as “utterly absurd”.

On Tuesday, the US Trade Representative Office considered imposing tariffs of 10% or 12.5% on imports from 60 economies. Meanwhile investigations revealed that these nations failed to limit trade flows involving forced labour.

In this connection Bernd Lange said: “Even though this was to be expected, the investigation and its findings are utterly absurd.”

“Following the setback at the Supreme, the US government is desperately seeking a new legal basis for its tariff policy. It appears that every conceivable pretext is now being used to justify existing tariffs or prepare new ones.”

According to Lange, the European Union enacted the most stringent regulations against products made using forced labour.

It is pertinent to mention that companies are now working to establish a sequence of business activities to ensure transparency and identify risk and demonstrate that preventive controls are operational.

Meanwhile, the European Commission is finalizing the guidelines for authorities and businesses.

In line with recent claims that the EU is not taking mandatory procedures against forced labour does not stand up to serious scrutiny. Notably, the evidence clearly showed that the European Union is establishing international benchmarks.

The key concern persists as to whether the additional tariff will surpass the Turnberry agreements. Additionally, he said: “Referring to an agreement from July 2025 in which the EUagreed to remove tariffs on US goods agreed to a maximum tariff on most EU goods of 15%.”