Is a trade war looming? EU is planning a new law - this could annoy Trump

Merkur Is a trade war looming? EU is planning a new law - this could annoy Trump Lars-Eric Nievelstein • 2 hours • 3 minutes reading time Competitive disadvantages for farmers The EU is planning a new law against the use of pesticides. This is specifically aimed at imports. This could hit the USA hard. Brussels - Europe and the USA are on the threshold of a major trade conflict. The trigger for this is the intensified rhetoric of US President Donald Trump. A few weeks ago, he had already imposed higher tariffs on Mexican, Chinese and Canadian goods and indicated that it was only a matter of time before Europe was hit too. A new EU rule could cause Trump to escalate this even further. EU wants to ban pesticide-contaminated imports - due to competitive disadvantages The European Union is apparently planning new restrictions on imported food in which certain types of pesticides were used. Certain toxic pesticides are banned within the EU, which, according to their own statements, has put European farmers at a competitive disadvantage. Specifically, the EU Commission now wants to stipulate that the most dangerous pesticides that are banned in the EU (whether for health or environmental reasons) "can no longer enter the Union via imported goods". This would mean an import ban on certain foods. However, a blanket ban is not to take place - an EU official told WirtschaftsWoche that decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis. Apparently the EU wants to present a corresponding draft on Wednesday (February 19). EU regulations on pesticides had already caused a stir in February 2024. Farmers had repeatedly protested against the so-called EU Pesticide Regulation throughout 2023, so that the EU Commission withdrew a corresponding presentation in February. USA uses harmful pesticides - the import ban could hit them hard This measure could now hit the USA in particular. The "Land of the Free" had, at least before the coronavirus pandemic, a much more relaxed approach to pesticide use than the European Union. A 2019 study showed that the United States uses millions of tons of pesticides that are either banned (which is often the case when comparing with the EU) or that countries are currently phasing out (for example, China or Brazil). The academic journal Environmental Health published the corresponding results at the time. The study examined how the largest economies deal with a selection of 500 pesticides and to what extent they are permitted for use. "It is sad that the United States is so behind in banning these harmful pesticides," said Nathan Donley, a scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity and study author. "The fact that we still use hundreds of millions of pounds of poisons that other nations have wisely classified as too risky highlights our lax approach to banning dangerous pesticides." In addition, pesticides are one of the most important US exports. In 2023, the USA had exported pesticides worth around 5.04 billion US dollars, and the Observatory of Economic Complexity ranked the country second among all pesticide exporters. Tariff dispute between the USA and Europe - is the trade war intensifying? All of this could mean that the USA feels offended by such an EU regulation. In the past, US President Trump had repeatedly criticized what he considered to be the EU's unfair practices and called for higher tariffs on EU goods to offset the massive trade deficit. China, Canada and Mexico had already experienced exactly what this looks like. All three countries had collected hefty punitive tariffs shortly after Trump took office; certain Chinese goods, for example, were to receive tariffs of up to ten percent. "Non-tariff trade barriers" - including such EU regulations - are among the unfair practices for the US President. On February 18, Trump also announced auto tariffs that could hit Europe's automotive industry hard.