When the Donald Trump announced duties in ChinaBeijing has quickly returned, announcing new US contributions within 24 hours.

The European Union follows a more … zen approach. Bloc Member States will vote on Wednesday for their delayed first response to Trump duties and announce duties on a list of US products to offset US contributions to steel. But the EU still work on how exactly, will meet other duties of USAincluding cars and a 20% general duty announced by Trump a few hours ago.

The delayed response is partly due to the nature of the 27 block block, which seeks the political consensus between countries with different national priorities. But it also comes from the desire in Europe to allow the negotiation, given the risk of further escalation in relations with the US, not only because the two economies are so interconnected but also because the Europe It is so much based on the US security umbrella of its strongest and traditional closest ally, officials and observers say.

European officials are trying to evaluate their response to Trump, whom they consider to be an unstable factor willing to hit the economies of both Europe and the United States, seeking an agenda based on the “America first” doctrine.

Europe has a lot to lose from a trade war with the US, its largest export market of goods. The Union enjoys a trade surplus of $ 170 billion in goods with the US, a vital market for both heavy industries and important areas such as food and wine. It also wants to prevent any deterioration in trade relations, at the level of military alliance with Washington, which supports the security of Epirus.

Still, the EU has strong commercial tools at its disposal – if he chooses to use them – including targeting the surplus of US $ 118 billion In services with Europe, an important profit center for US technology giants.

Efforts to negotiate a deal with the White House failed, though not because of lack of effort. European officials have offered ‘zero to zero’ duties to cars and industrial goods, as well as increased US export markets, from liquefied natural gas to soy.

A portion of Europeans, however, believes that Donald Trump is seeking conflict and that in reality, he is not interested in compromise.

“My sense is that, at this stage, it is more of the US government to transform the global trade system, seeing duties as a corrective measure for many of their political goals,” European Commissioner Maros Sefkovic told reporters on Monday.

Trump rejected Monday the bid of duties zero to zero as inadequate, indicating that he wanted to limit the trade deficit by buying more energy from the US and loosening the EU regulations.

“I think they see it as follows:” Damage is caused, but we should be careful not to add damage to the damage, “he said André sapirformer EU member. Financial Advisor and Senior Partner at Think Tank Bruegel.

If European leaders are united in one thing, this is the attempt to negotiate first. The 27 are discussing weeks for the first reaction and on Wednesday will finalize countermeasures on US steel and aluminum duties that came into force last month. The EU It is going to hit a wide list of US dollars worth of $ 25%. Possible goals include home appliances, motorcycles and tobacco. However, officials say the list has diminished somewhat and the bourbon is expected to be removed, since Trump threatened 200% on European alcohol. This would be a serious blow to the wine industries of France and Italy.

The EU It responded slower in part because it connects 27 nations with coincidence and competitive interests whose economies are deeply connected. Some, including France and northern Europe countries, have pushed for a tougher response, including US technology services. However, others, led by Trump -friendly Italy and the over -conservative Prime Minister George Meloni, have sought attention, warning of sharp retaliation.