EU targets Trump’s red states with tariffs on US trucks, cigarettes and ice cream

Dig deeper, and it turns out the EU’s trade nerds have stirred some unaccustomed creativity into their expert knowledge of obscure customs codes, while channeling a helping of passive aggression to inflict pain on Trump’s base.

EU countries are set to vote on the new duties on Wednesday, with no major opposition expected.

Once they’ve approved the list (which is technically made up of multiple lists), the first set of tariffs on goods such as cranberries or orange juice, which the EU initially imposed in 2018 during the first Trump presidency but suspended in 2021, will take effect on April 15.

A 25 percent duty will then kick in from May 16 on a second batch of imported items such as steel, meat, white chocolate and polyethylene. Finally, a 25 percent duty on almonds and soybeans will take effect Dec. 1. (Leave it to the Commission to build some suspense.)

Overall, EU duties are set to hit up to $13.5 billion worth of exports from red states, according to POLITICO's analysis of 2024 trade data.

Let’s start with the EU’s No. 1 target — soybeans, the most valuable item on the bloc’s hit list, a product whose economic and symbolic significance for the Republican Party's heartlands cannot be overstated.