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EU trade ministers meeting later on Wednesday to decide

response

to US tariffs

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Siemens Energy will pass on extra costs of tariffs

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Supermarket chain Ahold warns food prices will go up

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Steelmakers worry about flood of imports into EU

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Trump tariffs dominate Q4 earnings

By Christoph Steitz, Alban Kacher and Helen Reid

FRANKFURT/GDANSK/LONDON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Supermarket

group Ahold Delhaize and Siemens Energy said on Wednesday U.S.

import tariffs will lead to higher prices as they pass on the

costs, while speciality steelmaker voestalpine urged Brussels to

retaliate for duties threatened by Donald Trump.

Executives around the world are scrambling to offset the

cost of the U.S. president's move to impose 25% tariffs on

aluminium and steel and keep up with changing U.S. trade

policies that threaten to upend industries from autos to

consumer goods to energy.

On Wednesday, Trump's trade advisers were finalising plans

for the reciprocal tariffs the U.S. president has vowed to

impose on every country that charges duties on U.S. imports,

ratcheting up fears of a widening global trade war.

Trade ministers of the 27-country European Union were

preparing to meet later by videoconference to determine their

response

after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

said moves

against

the bloc "will not go unanswered".

Siemens Energy expects to take a hit from tariffs

with its network in Mexico the most exposed to extra charges on

power equipment supplies.

CEO Christian Bruch said he could not quantify the impact,

but that price increases would be passed on to customers,

echoing comments from other executives in recent weeks.

Trump's trade policy has dominated conference calls with

media and investors during the fourth-quarter earnings season.

Supermarket group Ahold Delhaize expects U.S.

tariffs on Mexico and Canada to lead to price increases for food

and vegetables as well as paper products, group CEO Frans Muller

told Reuters.

The company which runs U.S. chains including Food Lion, Stop

& Shop, and Hannaford, is considering sourcing more products

from the West Coast and states such as Florida, should Mexican

products become less competitive, Muller added.

"If there would be tariffs on Mexican fruit and vegetables

or Canadian paper products, then we will have an inflationary

effect in those categories," Muller said in an interview.

European shares extended gains to hit a record high on

Wednesday, showing some resilience to the uncertain global trade

backdrop.

Barclays' European equity strategists said on Wednesday the

tariff threats are for now looking more like a negotiation tool,

although there is still some risk for stocks exposed to tariffs

and foreign exchange, such as autos and consumer staples.

"Both could therefore see some relief if tariffs aren't as

bad as feared," they said.

The bank's back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest

European companies could take a 5-10% hit to earnings from 10%

tariffs in a "worst-case" scenario.

RETALIATION

Steelmakers in Europe are worried about a potential fresh

flood of cheap steel into the EU as happened in 2018 under the

first Trump presidency.

Austrian speciality steelmaker voestalpine called

on the European Union to take immediate countermeasures and

start negotiations with the U.S. regarding tariffs.

French steelmaker Aperam on Tuesday called on

Brussels to intervene to curb imports if U.S. duties on all

steel and aluminium imports prompt companies to ship more to the

European Union instead.

Chairman of Taiwan's Foxconn ( FXCOF ) said the world's

largest contract electronics manufacturer and Apple's AAPL.O

main iPhone maker can adjust its production around new U.S.

tariffs.