The EU is preparing retaliatory measures in the event of the introduction of US tariffs.
US President-elect Donald Trump said on Friday that the European Union (EU) must reduce its trade deficit with the United States by buying oil and gas or face tariffs. TASR informs about it based on a CNBC report.
“I told the European Union that it must balance its huge deficit with the USD through massive purchases of our oil and gas. Otherwise, she will only face tariffs,” Trump wrote on his social platform Truth.
The US trade deficit in goods and services with the EU in 2022 was USD 131.3 billion (EUR 126.31 billion).
Threats to introduce large-scale tariffs against China, Mexico and Canada were an important part of Trump’s presidential campaign. Now they are continuing despite economists warning that the tariffs could cause US inflation to accelerate.
Analysts say there is a lot of uncertainty about the extent of the tariffs Trump will be willing or able to impose, and how much his rhetoric is a starting point for deal-making.
Former Italian prime minister and dean of the IE School of Politics Economics and Global Affairs Enrico Letta told CNBC on Friday that the EU must be prepared for retaliation. “I think it’s a transactional approach and we have to respond to that transactional approach. Trump is mixing energy and tariffs on goods, manufacturing and so on. I don’t think it’s right because these are two completely different areas,” Letta stated. He added that if “Trump proposes such an asymmetric deal involving areas that are not interconnected, I think we need to do the same.”
The USA is the largest market for goods from the EU, accounting for 19.7% of exports from the Union in 2023.
