According to data released by Eurostat on Wednesday, the European Union’s exports to the United States surged by 22.4% in February as opposed to the previous year.
This surge marks the highest increase in 13 months, amounting to 51.8 billion euros. Meanwhile, imports from the U.S. rose by 2.4% year-on-year to 28.2 billion euros.
U.S. President Donald Trump directed his economic advisers to develop reciprocal tariff strategies targeting every country that taxes U.S. imports in February
Despite repeated threats to impose a variety of trade penalties since his return to the White House in January, President Trump has put many of these actions on hold.
In February, the EU posted an excess of 23 billion euros, compared to a shortage of 5.6 billion euros in January.
In 2024, exports to the U.S. increased by 5.5% compared to a year earlier, while imports declined by 4.0%.
This is as the EU penalized Apple and Meta with 700 million euros in fines for breaking digital competition rules, risking the wrath of US President Donald Trump.
The penalties threaten to cause more tension in the already fraught relationship between the bloc and Trump, as the two sides discuss a deal to avoid his sweeping tariffs on the EU.
The European Commission fined Apple 500 million euros ($570 million) after concluding the company prevented developers from steering customers outside its App Store to access cheaper deals.
Also, the EU fined Meta 200 million euros over its “pay or consent” system after it violated rules on the use of personal data on Facebook and Instagram.
The fines are the first under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which was enacted last year, forcing the world’s biggest tech firms to open up to competition in the EU.
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