EU firms coping well with US tariffs, face obstacles within bloc, EIB survey shows

LUXEMBOURG, March 3 (Reuters) – European Union companies are coping well with higher U.S. tariffs on EU goods, but report problems with selling their products within the bloc itself due to fragmented rules and regulations, a European Investment Bank survey showed on Tuesday.

The survey by the government-owned EIB, Europe’s biggest investment bank, also showed EU firms were just as advanced in using artificial intelligence as those in the United States, boosting their productivity.

“The EIB Group Investment Survey 2025/2026 shows that EU firms adapted well to rapid technological advancement and the demands of the green transition, as well as sharp rises in U.S. tariffs,” said the survey, based on responses from some 13,000 firms, collected between April and July last year.

Washington and Brussels struck a framework trade agreement last July, imposing a 15% import tariff on most EU goods – half the threatened rate, but countering Europe’s initial hopes to secure a zero-for-zero tariff deal.

“When the United States raised tariffs, American firms expressed more concern than their EU counterparts. So far, the impact of tariffs has largely been absorbed by U.S. importers, with the effect remaining manageable for EU exporters,” it said.

But differing national laws between the EU’s 27 countries have made it difficult for 62% of European companies to export their goods to other EU countries, showing how incomplete the bloc’s single market for goods and services remains.

“Removing these barriers could boost the ratio of firm investment to assets by 10%, with even stronger gains for intangible investment,” the report said.

The findings are in line with research by the International Monetary Fund, which has said that internal EU barriers to trade caused by diverging regulations were equal to a 44% tariff on goods and a 110% tariff on services.    

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, editing by Andrei Khalip)