US-EU trade negotiations are deadlocked, and the EU is considering retaliatory measures against unilateral US demands.

On June 21, during the trade talks between the US and Europe, the US demanded that the EU make unilateral concessions that EU officials see as unbalanced. If the terms of a potential agreement do not improve, the EU will face the difficult decision of whether to take countermeasures. According to informed sources, the best-case scenario remains to reach a principled agreement that would allow negotiations to continue beyond the July deadline.

The demands from Washington can be categorized into three types. The first type involves measures related to fish export quotas, which EU officials indicate may not comply with WTO rules. The second type consists of non-reciprocal tariff-related measures. The third type is a series of economic security demands described by EU officials as far-fetched.

According to informed sources, many of Trump’s tariffs will remain unchanged even if an agreement is reached. The EU has been seeking a mutually beneficial agreement, which will assess any final outcome and decide at that stage how much inequality it is willing to accept - if any.