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Brussels – The EU promises to respond “with firmness” if the USA threatens with tariffs and a trade war.
“We are ready,” says Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“If we are attacked unfairly or arbitrarily, the EU will respond firmly. These tariffs increase costs for companies and harm workers and consumers. We don’t see much good in them, she says at the press conference after the informal summit at the Egmont Palace in Brussels on Monday evening.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson considers it a given that the EU will respond collectively. But he still hopes that there will be no tariffs, with the help of purely economic arguments.
“Tariffs are basically just bad. Imposing tariffs on each other is bad economic policy that no one will benefit from in the long run,” says Kristersson – and points out that there are others to trade with besides the USA.
“We are a large bloc with 450 million people who have their own free trade and want as much free trade as possible with other parts of the world. The USA is important, but the world is even bigger. So there are reasons why we are now concluding new free trade agreements between Europe and other large and small continents,” says the Swedish Prime Minister in Brussels.
If, after all, a decision comes from Donald Trump, the EU is expected to respond with its own tariffs – mainly targeting goods produced in parts of the USA where President Trump has some of his strongest supporters.
American bourbon, motorcycles, and orange juice from Florida are some examples that may be considered.
(February 3)