Most in survey of Europeans support retaliatory tariffs against US
Most Western Europeans are supportive of the continent’s intent to fire back when President Trump moves forward with tariffs set to take effect Wednesday, according to a survey released on Tuesday.
The new YouGov EuroTrack poll found that the majority of citizens of seven Western European countries — Great Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden — are in favor of imposing retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. in anticipation of Trump’s additional tariffs.
Out of the group, Danes are the most supportive at 79 percent. In second place was Sweden at 73 percent. Great Britain was in third place with 71 percent, with Spain closely behind at 70 percent, according to the survey.
An equal share of German and French citizens, 68 percent, are supportive of Europe responding to the U.S. by placing tariffs on goods coming from the country. With Trump’s forthcoming tariffs, Germany’s car manufacturing industry is expected to be hit hard.
Italians were the least supportive of the bunch at 56 percent.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday that her “understanding is that the tariff announcement will come tomorrow. They will be effective immediately.”
“The president has been teasing this for quite some time,” she added.
Trump has previously said that he would impose reciprocal tariffs on April 2, indicating that nations with duties on goods coming from the U.S. would face newer taxes when shipping goods to the country.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in her speech on Tuesday that the European Union (EU) is ready to respond to Trump’s existing and upcoming tariffs.
She noted the EU is ready to negotiate first, but if that does not work, “we have a strong plan to retaliate if necessary.”
“We will approach these negotiations from a position of strength. Europe holds a lot of cards, from trade to technology to the size of our market,” von der Leyen said. “But this strength is also built on our readiness to take firm countermeasures if necessary. All instruments are on the table.”
Germans are most likely, 75 percent, to think the upcoming U.S. tariffs would have a lot or a fair amount of impact on their national economy. Some 70 percent of citizens of France and Italy said the same, the poll showed.
Danes are the least concerned about the tariffs, with 50 percent of the population saying Trump’s tariffs will have a lot or a fair amount of impact on Copenhagen’s economy.
The survey was conducted from March 6 to 24. The pollsters asked 2,155 people in Great Britain, 1,002 adults in France, 2,196 adults in Germany, 999 respondents in Denmark, 1,011 people in Sweden, 1,061 individuals in Spain and 1,031 adults in Italy.