The European Union is preparing to apply 25 percent tariffs on $3.5 billion worth of American goods in retaliation for President Trump's proposed steel and aluminum tariffs, Bloomberg Politics reports. A number of products targeted on the EU's list seem especially chosen to put maximum pressure on lawmakers including bourbon whiskey, which comes from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) state, and jeans, with Levi Strauss' headquarters located in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) congressional district.
The EU tariffs would also target motorcycles, cosmetics, ladders, and T-shirts, as well as agricultural products and steel products. Even before the report about the EU tariffs, The New York Times estimated that more than 170,000 Americans could lose their jobs under Trump's tariff plan due to the higher cost of doing business.
Despite pressure from within his own party, Trump has publicly refused to compromise. "We're not backing down," he promised Monday. On Sunday, British Prime Minister Theresa May called to express her concerns about the U.S. sparking a trade war with the EU, and Trump privately said he had not reached a final decision yet, The New York Times reports.