Luxembourg, 7 April 2025 (dpa/MIA) — European Union trade ministers met to mull how to respond to new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on the bloc as global stock markets plunged.

The US government introduced Saturday universal tariffs of a minimum of 10% on imports from almost all its trading partners.

Significantly higher levies will apply for some countries, depending on trade deficits. Imports from EU countries to the United States face new tariffs of 20% starting on Wednesday.

The EU needed to prepare the bloc's reaction to the "paradigm shift of the global trading system," said EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, as he arrived at the meeting in Luxembourg.

Šefčovič recently returned from Washington after talks with US trade representatives in a so far unsuccessful attempt to negotiate a solution.

Ministers were expected to discuss reciprocal tariffs as well as other retaliatory measures which would be implemented in case diplomatic efforts fail.

Next to preparing counter-tariffs on US imports, the EU should also consider making crucial exports, like pharmaceutical products, more expensive and imposing charges on digital services from US tech companies, said outgoing German Economy Minister Robert Habeck.

He called on his EU counterparts to act together and not to try to secure more favorable conditions individually.

The German minister also warned against an escalation and hasty reactions, saying the EU has no time pressure to react to the latest round of tariff announcements.

Trump had steered the US into a "position of weakness," Habeck said.

Recent remarks by Trump's advisor and confidant Elon Musk in favor of a zero-tariff situation with a free trade zone between Europe and North America were "a sign of weakness and maybe of fear."

Habeck said that the thinking behind the Trump's tariffs policy is "nonsense."

The assumption that a trade surplus or deficit was a problem is "wrong," Habeck said.

"In the end, globalization serves all economies," he said, adding that the US economy grew faster than European economies in the last 20 years.

Trump says he aims to counter alleged trade imbalances while convincing manufacturers to produce in the US. He is also looking to fund large-scale tax cuts, a central campaign promise.

EU ministers also discussed trade relations with China, as the bloc has been trying to convince China for years to end trade practices including subsidies that the bloc considers to be distorting competition.

Chinese imports to the EU outweighed exports from the bloc to China by €304.5 billion ($333.5 billion) last year. By contrast, the EU recorded a significant surplus of €198.2 billion euros in trade in goods with the US.

In 2024, goods worth €531.6 billion were exported to the US, with only €333.4 billion worth of goods imported. In the services sector, on the other hand, the EU has a trade deficit with the US.