Trump's tariff threat on EU fuels trade war tensions
The Telegraph reports that Donald Trump is considering introducing a 10% tariff on goods from the European Union. The newspaper assesses that such a move would escalate the global trade war that began on Saturday when the new US President imposed broad tariffs on goods imported from Mexico, Canada, and China.
A source close to Trump's administration claimed that there is no broad agreement, but "some want to impose a 10% tariff on the EU." "They are discussing introducing this on all imports from the EU," it reads.
Another source told "The Telegraph" that "Trump is testing the situation with Canada and Mexico, to see what he can push through."
On Sunday, returning from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump said that tariffs on the EU "will definitely happen." - I can say that because they've really taken advantage of us – we have a deficit of over 300 billion dollars - he added.
Trump criticises the European Union
Trump criticised the EU, claiming that "they don't take our cars, they don't take our agricultural products. They take almost nothing, and we take everything: from millions of cars to huge amounts of food and agricultural products."
When asked for details, he did not specify either the potential tariff rate or the timing of their introduction, other than that it would happen "very soon."
According to CNN, Donald Trump is not being truthful in claiming that the EU does not buy American agricultural products. According to government data, in 2023, the EU bought US agricultural products worth 12.3 billion USD, making it the fourth-largest export market for American agricultural and related products.
Meanwhile, according to a report by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association from December 2023, the EU is the second-largest export market for American vehicle exports - in 2022, 271,476 American vehicles were imported there, worth nearly 13.5 billion CAD.
Source: "The Telegraph", WP Wiadomości
