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What do Americans want?
Barring any major surprises, today US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will impose a 15% tariff on European goods exported to the United States.
The technicians of the EU Commissioner for Trade, Maros Sefcovic, are demanding that the current 50% tax on steel and aluminum, as well as the 27.5% on vehicles, be unified at 15%. Von der Leyen will tell Trump that Europeans are ready to buy more liquefied gas and more “Made in USA” weapons. But the leader of the White House will answer: fine, but that is not enough.
What do Americans want?
The requirements are numerous, but two are the main ones:
First, Europeans must commit to buying semiconductors (chips), electronic components essential to almost all industrial sectors, only from American suppliers and not from China or Taiwan. It is far from certain whether US production capacity can meet all of Europe's demand, but for the Trump administration this is a matter of principle: "you are our allies, you cannot get potentially sensitive materials from China or other countries, you have to get them from us."
The other topic is that of the digital sector, which risks undermining any agreement, as the technical debate is becoming a crucial political issue for both Washington and Europe. It is worth remembering the speech of US Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference last February, where he said that “Europe is stifling freedom of expression”.
The battle for digital rules
The Americans are demanding the repeal of some European legislation in this area. Specifically, they want to amend, or rather repeal, the Digital Markets Act, which has allowed for the investigation of the practices of companies such as Google and Apple. But above all, Washington opposes the rules for moderating online content and protecting users guaranteed by the Digital Services Act.
According to Vance, these restrictions not only do not actually protect freedom of expression, but they hinder the business of American platforms, from Elon Musk's "X" to Mark Zuckerberg's "Meta". These restrictions also prevent the spread of uncontrolled propaganda, such as that of Trump militants.
The problem is that most EU governments and MEPs consider these rules non-negotiable. If they are removed, the agreement falls apart.
Possible compromise
According to European sources, the Commission is working on a compromise solution: the regulations will not be changed, but their implementation could be facilitated. It is being seen how far it can go to satisfy Washington without losing the support of the European Parliament, which is necessary for the approval of any trade agreement.
Diplomacies and businesses on the move
Meanwhile, companies and the embassies of individual countries are also getting involved. It will be important to identify product categories that can be exempted from tariffs, or more easily affected.
Then, an attempt will be made to mitigate the damage by reaching agreements with American importers. A concrete case is the trade in wines and other agri-food specialties. Italian producers and American distributors could share the burden of tariffs between them, so that the cost is not fully transferred to prices, thus alienating consumers./Corriere della Sera
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