Eurozone economy unexpectedly accelerates amid trade pressure from the US

Photo caption — Euro symbol in Frankfurt, Germany. Photo: THX/TTXVN

The European Union's (EU) official statistics agency, Eurostat, announced on April 30 that the 20-member Eurozone grew by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter.

Compared with the modest 0.2% forecast by analysts earlier, the actual results showed a marked improvement.

At the same time, the economy of the entire 27-country EU bloc also recorded 0.3% growth in the same period.

The reason for this higher-than-expected growth figure, according to analysts, is that US companies accelerated purchases of goods from Europe before the new US tariffs were officially implemented.

However, many experts say the growth outlook for the rest of the year remains bleak.

“Growth will slow significantly over the next six months due to the impact of US tariffs imposed in April,” warned Franziska Palmas, senior European economist at Capital Economics in London.

President Trump announced a 20% tariff on most goods from Europe from April 2, but then decided to delay it for 90 days, while the global 10% tariff is still in effect.

In the event of a failure to reach a trade deal with the US, the EU could face higher tariffs, leading to a chaotic and risky trade war for the European economy.

In parallel, 25% tariffs are still being applied to steel, aluminum and cars imported into the US from Europe.

The European economy has been in a two-year slump, largely due to rising energy costs following the war in Ukraine.

Last April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided to lower its annual growth forecast for the Eurozone to 0.8% for 2025, down 0.2 percentage points from its previous forecast, citing concerns about negative consequences from trade tensions between the US and Europe.

Cao Thong

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/quoc-te/kinh-te-eurozone-bat-ngo-but-toc-giua-ap-luc-thuong-mai-tu-my/20250501083803309