EPA
EU trade commissioner Maros Sevkovic warned that Europeans are “ready to protect our interests.”
The European Union’s trade director said the 27-person bloc is committed to securing trade contracts with the United States based on “respect” rather than “threat.”
It comes after President Donald Trump threatens to slap 50% tariffs on all goods sent to the US from the EU.
“The EU is fully involved and committed to ensuring transactions that work for both,” EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said after a call with US trade representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick.
“EU-US trade is unparalleled and must be guided by mutual respect rather than threats. We are ready to protect our interests.”
Earlier on Friday, Trump expressed panic at the pace of ongoing EU-US trade negotiations, saying plans were set to raise tariffs on June 1.
Posting on his true social platform, Trump said: “Our discussion with them (the EU) is not going anywhere,” he added, adding that there are no tariffs on products built or manufactured in the US.
“I’m not looking for a deal – we set up a deal,” he later told reporters, adding that a big investment by European companies in the US might soon slow him down.
The EU is one of Washington’s biggest trading partners, sending over $600 million (528 billion euros, £443 billion) last year, buying $370 billion worth of it.
In response to Trump’s threat, the European government has warned that higher tariffs will damage both sides.
“We don’t need to go down this path. Negotiations are the best and only sustainable way,” said Ireland’s Prime Minister Mikeal Martin.
“We’re keeping the same line: escalation, we’re ready to respond,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said.
German Economic Minister Katharina Reich said “everything must be done to ensure that the European Commission arrives at a solution negotiated with the United States.”
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schuf told reporters that he supported the EU’s strategy in trade talks, “We saw tariffs could go up and down in meetings with the US.”
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In April, US President Donald Trump announced what he called “mutual tariffs” on goods from countries around the world.
Last month, Trump announced 20% tariffs on most EU goods, but was halved by 10% until July 8th to make sure they had more time to negotiate.
Trump’s complaints about Europe focus on uneven trade relations, as the EU sells more products to the US than it buys from the US.
He condemned the trade deficit on policies he calls unfair to American businesses, and specifically raised concerns about policies relating to automobiles and agricultural products.
Trump also warned Apple that it would “at least” impose a 25% import tax on iPhones that were not manufactured in the US, spreading the threat to smartphones.
US and EU stocks fell on Friday after the latest threat, with the S&P 500 falling about 0.7%, while Germany’s DAX and French CAC 40 down more than 1.5% in the day.
