European leaders warned on Monday that the threat of US President Donald Trump had risked the EU Tariffs to the EU to inflict a trade war that would cause economic damage on both sides of the Atlantic.
EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas said that the US and Europe started the trade war, “then he is the one who laughs on the side of China.”
“We are very interconnected. We need America, and America we need it,” she said, speaking on the eve of the informal gathering of EU leaders -Brussels.
EU diplomats say that a 27-state block prepares possible answers, but he has to see what Trump’s next move is before he finishes anything. They said that the goal was to avoid spilling fuel on fire for now.
Trump said 27 European Union countries that they were next in line, after his decision to impose festive tariffs to Mexico, Canada and China.
“It will definitely happen to the European Union. I can tell you that they are us, because they really used us,” Trump told reporters on Sunday, repeating complaints to a trade deficit.
“They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our farms. They take almost nothing, and we take everything from them.”
The federal government announced the retaliation of 25 percent of tariffs on US goods – ranging from juice to device and car – after President Donald Trump followed his tariff threat. Trade war persuades people to buy Canadians because the extent of the economic outburst is waiting for him to be seen.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hit a more cautious tone, persuading the EU and now to work together.
“It is clear that as a strong economic area we can shape our own future and respond to tariff policies … But perspective and goal should be for things to result in cooperation,” he said.
Concern about the European Auto -Sector
German conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz, who could become a chancellor after the elections were held on February 2nd, said late Sunday that the tariffs risked a return crack.
“Trump will also realize now that the tariffs that impose will not have to pay those who import into America. Instead, they will have to pay them consumers in America,” Merz said.
Front burner23:46Trump’s tariff trade war and you
French Central Bank Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said Trump’s “tariffs” are “very brutal” and that he will be particularly hit by a car -sector.
“Everyone is lost in this kind of protectionist trade war,” he told France Info Radio.
Shares in European car manufacturers fell on Monday due to concern about the influence of tariffs.
In his complaints on trade balance with the EU, Trump has only focused on goods trade.
The EU has consistently exported more goods in the United States than imported, and the US trade deficit was 155.8 billion euros (159.5 billion USD) in 2023, according to Eurostat.
However, in the services, the US has excess exports due to imports with the European Unico of EUR 104 billion (106.7 billion US dollars) in 2023, Eurostat said.
Milder conversation about Britain
Trump said on Sunday that, although Britain was “out of line” when it came to shops, he thought it would be able to avoid the tariff, adding the imbalance: “I think it can be elaborated.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters over the weekend: “These are early days and what I want to see are strong trade relations, and in the discussions I had with President Trump, we are focused on that.”
The United States is the largest British commercial partner as a unique country, although the European Union is larger as a block. Less than one-third of the British store with the US is in goods, which could face tariffs, and the rest consists of services.
Starmer was also in Brussels, hoping he would improve the EU ties after Brexit’s separation, which is a consequence of a 2016 referendum, and his Labor Government hoped to agree to the abolition of some bureaucratic interruptions of trade with European allies.
