European leaders mounted a coordinated response to President Trump’s latest tariff escalation, after he raised import duties to 15% on all goods entering the United States — a move made in defiance of a Supreme Court ruling that had struck down his previous tariff authority. With Germany and France leading the charge, the European response signaled that Trump’s trade strategy faces not just legal resistance at home but a stiffening diplomatic front abroad.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced he would personally travel to Washington carrying a coordinated European position, warning in unusually direct terms that the constant uncertainty over US tariffs was acting as “poison” on the economies of both Europe and the United States. He expressed hope that the Supreme Court ruling would ease the burden on German businesses, while making clear that any new tariff regime would face sustained European pushback.
French President Emmanuel Macron was characteristically eloquent in his response, framing the Supreme Court ruling as a validation of democratic governance and the necessary role of independent judiciaries in checking executive power. He called for reciprocity in trade relations and expressed France’s opposition to what he described as unilateral decision-making — a clear reference to Trump’s sweeping tariff policies.
The UK, meanwhile, found itself in an awkward position. Having believed it had secured a preferential 10% tariff arrangement with Washington, British officials now faced the reality that the new 15% rate had effectively superseded that agreement. Business leaders were blunt in their assessment, calling the hike damaging to trade and warning that economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic would suffer.
The new tariffs are authorized under a 1974 trade law provision that allows a 15% cap for 150 days, after which congressional approval is needed. Certain goods — including critical minerals, metals, pharmaceuticals, and USMCA-compliant goods from Canada and Mexico — are exempt. The episode represents perhaps the clearest illustration yet of the transatlantic strain caused by Trump’s trade agenda, and European leaders show no signs of backing down from their demand for stability and mutual respect in trade relations.