Former EU chief negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero, now a senior fellow at think tank Bruegel, said the United States had sought to ensure the new duties respected the tariff aspects of the EU-U.S. trade deal, but noted that additional tariffs from a further Section 301 investigation into excess capacity were still to come. That targets 16 trading partners, including the EU, China, India, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland.
Britain, which is not a target of that second probe, said the latest move would have no negative effects.
"Our agreement with the U.S. remains in place, and today we see an improvement to our trading terms with zero tariffs on whisky and medical technology," a government spokesperson said.
The British Chamber of Commerce described the new tariffs as a mixed picture, with a welcome confirmation of the removal of U.S. tariffs on whisky, a lower tariff rate than competitors for steel, but a loss in comparative advantage over the EU and other countries for other goods.
China said it opposed all unilateral tariffs, adding that trade wars did not serve any parties.
Trump administration officials have told Chinese counterparts they intend to rebuild Trump's second-term tariffs on Chinese goods back up to the 20% that was agreed upon in a trade truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2025 - but not exceed that level. Prior to Friday's action, China's tariff rate had fallen to 10%, excluding the 25% imposed during Trump's first term on industrial goods.
Australia and Brazil described the new tariffs as unjustified and said they would seek to have them removed, while Norway said there was "no basis" for them. Canada - hit on Monday with new Trump tariffs on $20 billion worth of goods - issued a muted response.
"We will continue engaging constructively with the United States on this matter, as well as other outstanding issues, over the coming weeks to the mutual benefit of our citizens," said Dominic LeBlanc, Canada's minister in charge of U.S. trade.
Kelly Ann Shaw, a former White House trade adviser in Trump's first term and a partner with the Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld law firm, said the new tariffs tracked what had been telegraphed, although some changes had been made, including the addition of some 471 products to an exclusion list.
"I think this is more status quo in terms of the economic impact," she said.
Many goods will be exempted from the duties, including oil and gas, fertilizer, certain foodstuffs and goods already subject to Section 232 national security tariffs, such as autos, steel, aluminum and copper, the official said. Aircraft and parts will also be exempted, along with critical minerals.
There were some winners.
The Antwerp World Diamond Centre said the restored exemption was significant news for the local diamond sector. Belgium exported $2.1 billion of polished diamonds to the United States in 2024. The exemption had lapsed after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump's global tariffs in February.
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