Bernd Lange, the influential chair of the European Parliament’s international trade committee, has issued a stark warning that the US expansion of steel tariffs is “really harming a lot of industries.” His intervention brings a high-level political voice to the growing chorus of concern from European businesses facing an unpredictable and damaging trade policy.
Lange’s comments underscore that the impact of the tariffs is now being felt far beyond the steel sector. The US policy of targeting “derivative” goods has pulled in hundreds of product categories, with the motorcycle industry being a key example of the collateral damage.
To illustrate his point, Lange shared a detailed account from a German motorcycle factory. He described how the company, unable to perfectly document its metal usage, is forced to over-declare its steel and aluminum content to avoid the risk of a ruinous 200% penalty for misreporting. This, he argued, is a clear sign of a dysfunctional system.
He also told fellow MEPs that the new tariff regime, with its prospect of a continuously expanding list of products, made it difficult to “explain to the workers” that the overall EU-US trade relationship was a good one. This highlights the political fallout from the policy, as it becomes harder to justify the benefits of transatlantic trade to the public.
Lange’s high-profile warning adds significant weight to the calls for a stronger EU response. As a key figure in shaping the bloc’s trade policy, his assessment that the US measures are actively “harming” European industries signals that a more confrontational stance may be on the horizon.
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