European Union / United-States: some fact-checking on openness and tariffs

The Memorandum on Reciprocal Trade and Tariffs, published on February 13 by the White House , asserts that: “The United States has one of the most open economies and has some of the lowest average weighted tariff rates in the world. The United States imposes fewer barriers to imports than other major global economies." Some days later , the U.S. president expressed his perspective on Europe: "We all love Europe, love the countries in Europe, but the European Union has been absolutely brutal on trade," he stated, adding, "The EU has been very nasty and... they haven't treated us properly." To assess these claims, this report provides numerical data regarding the openness of the United States in comparison to other major economic powers, as well as the tariffs imposed by both the United States and the European Union. Despite being characterized as one of the most open economies, the U.S. has the lowest openness ratio among G7 countries, standing at 12.4% in 2023. In contrast, the European Union's openness ratio is significantly higher at 22.1%. On tariff structures, the EU generally imposes higher tariffs on imports from non-member countries than the U.S. However, when examining weighted averages, EU tariffs on U.S. goods are slightly lower than U.S. tariffs on EU goods. The issue of VAT, which has also upset D. Trump, is not addressed here, as it is a tax that applies to all products or services regardless of their origin. The EU tariffs on U.S. products are far from being as “ brutal ” as they may seem at first glance, and a closer examination is necessary to understand the details.