(Bloomberg) -- The European Union’s exports to the US rocketed in the month before President Donald Trump unveiled his so-called “Liberation Day” trade war with the rest of the world.
The value of the bloc’s goods crossing the Atlantic to America totaled €71.4 billion ($80 billion) in March, up 59% from a year earlier, according to data released by Luxembourg-based Eurostat on Friday. That pushed the EU’s trade surplus with the US that month up to €40.7 billion, by far the highest ever.
The data point to the extent of frontloading that took place by exporters seeking to get goods into US ports in time to avoid the impact of tariffs that Trump had already threatened to impose on April 2.
On that date, he unveiled levies on almost every country in the world, with a level of 20% initially placed on EU imports before that was temporarily dialed down to 10% to allow for discussions.
Such a surge in exports underscores the distortion to global trade flows that has occurred in recent months as businesses try to respond to the whims of the White House.
The bloc is revising proposals for a potential trade deal with the US as the two sides move to accelerate serious talks, even though the Trump administration continues to provide little clarity and make demands deemed unrealistic by negotiators, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The EU’s proposal would provide more details on ways to lower trade and non-tariff barriers, as well as boost European investments within the US and purchases of US goods, including liquefied natural gas and semiconductors for use in artificial intelligence, the people said.