EU trade ministers have agreed that U.S. President Donald Trump’s 30% tariffs announced on the European Union are “absolutely unacceptable,” and they are studying a new set of countermeasures to respond to the move.

While Mexico was spared from Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" tariff rollout on April 2, the 30% rate for the E.U. is 10 percentage points higher than what the president said he would apply to America's largest trading partner in April but lower than his mid-May threat of 50%.

Economists had already downgraded growth for the European Union, and the new duties would hit industries there especially hard. Companies are looking for ways to blunt the impact.

America has a huge debt, and it's financed by half the world. If foreign nations and investors coordinated, it could force Trump to negotiate more reasonably on tariffs. But the threat on the world economy is huge.

President Donald Trump posted letters to the leaders of Mexico and the European Union, saying they had not done enough to head off the new tariffs.

President Donald Trump has posted two new letters on his social media platform announcing tariffs on the European Union and Mexico.

President Donald Trump's 30% tariffs on European Union goods could drive up costs across the world's alcohol trade. The EU is eyeing retaliatory measures.

The EU – the United States' biggest trading partner – had been scheduled to impose "countermeasures" starting Monday at midnight in Brussels