Competitiveness Check – June 13 Edition

US President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes on steel and aluminum—from 25% to 50%—took effect June 4. The next day, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz travelled to the United States for his inaugural visit to the White House. Read Penny Naas’ analysis of the meeting’s trade agenda here. 

Amid ongoing trade talks between the United States and EU, transatlantic leaders gathered in Brussels on June 11-12 for GMF’s Brussels Forum 2025. Catch up on the key discussions here. 

The United States and China reached a “framework” agreement on June 11 to resume the May 12 trade truce. 

Top 5 Transatlantic Trade-Related Developments 

• May 29: German Minister for Culture and Media Wolfram Weimer told Stern magazine that the country is considering a 10% tax on large online platforms such as Alphabet's Google and Meta's Facebook. German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil announced six days later that the new government in Berlin is seeking to pass a €46bn package of corporate tax breaks over the summer. The announcement came on the day that Trump’s new levies on steel and aluminum imports came into effect.
• June 3: The European Commission released the 2025 European Semester Spring Package, offering targeted economic and policy recommendations to the bloc’s member states. The package focuses on strengthening competitiveness, prosperity, and resilience in response to volatile trade and security conditions. It also provides the first assessment of progress under the revised economic governance framework and medium-term fiscal-structural plans.
• June 5: The European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy issued a joint communication outlining the EU’s international digital strategy. The document sets out priorities to boost the bloc’s tech competitiveness and innovation capacity in collaboration with partners and allies.
• June 11: Trump announced plans to send letters outlining unilateral tariff rates to US trading partners before the July 9 deadline to reinstate elevated levies on numerous countries.
• June 12: At a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent advocated for passing the pending tax bill (“One Big Beautiful Bill”). The current version of the bill includes Section 899, a provision that targets corporations, individuals, and governments of countries that are deemed to impose discriminatory or extraterritorial taxes on US citizens or corporations by subjecting them to increased US tax rates. The Senate Finance Committee is due to release the text or a description of proposed tax provisions on June 16 or 17. Section 899 is unlikely to be removed, but changes are being considered. 

Figure of the Fortnight

$52.6 billion: The estimated annual cost of steel and aluminum products due to the newly imposed 50% US tariff, according to estimates by Boston Consulting Group. 

Quote Unquote

“Last week, the European Union provided the United States with a credible starting point for discussions on reciprocal trade, and I am pleased that negotiations are advancing quickly. Today’s meeting in Paris, which occurred alongside technical talks by our teams in Washington, was very constructive and indicates a willingness by the EU to work with us to find a concrete way forward to achieve reciprocal trade. I look forward to continued constructive engagement in the coming days and weeks.”

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, following a meeting with European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič on the sidelines of the June 4 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development trade ministerial.

“I have to say that, after this discussion, we both concluded that we are advancing in the right direction at pace, and as you know, our teams are currently discussing all the issues in Washington, DC. They will spend most of the week there in very concrete, topic by topic discussions, and our goal, of course, is to maintain the momentum, and we agreed that after these technical talks would be concluded, [we] will come again back to our video conferencing and assess the progress and charter the way forward.”

European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, during a June 4 press conference in Paris.