Washington DC:
New day, new threat – that seems to be Donald Trump’s watchword as he turns to his new prey: the European Union. Weeks before he is officially sworn in as the next US president, Mr Trump today threatened the EU with consequences if it does not reduce the “tremendous” trade gap with the US.
President Donald Trump is demanding that Europe buy most of its oil and gas from the United States. He also said that otherwise there would be “tariffs forever.” The word is capitalized to give it more emphasis and to imply that the tariffs may be high.
Writing on his platform Truth Social, Trump said: “I told the European Union that we must make up for our huge deficit with the United States with massive purchases of oil and gas. Tariffs!!” ! ”
“For too long, Europe has been riding on America’s back, and we’ve allowed that to happen,” Donald Trump said during his last term. “Europe has to contribute to that, too,” he said at the time, threatening to end all excessive U.S. funding for NATO.
According to the latest US government statistics showing data for 2022, the US current trade deficit with the EU is $202.5 billion. In the same year, US imports from European Union countries totaled $553.3 billion, while exports to the EU totaled $350.8 billion.
President Donald Trump wants to quickly address this trade imbalance. His intimidation approach may not be the best approach, but he believes it will help “make America great again.” Tariff, he says, is his favorite word in the dictionary.
“I’ll lose to everyone”
“Our country is losing to everyone right now,” Trump recently told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort and residence in Florida. He blames this on “bad deals” made by successive U.S. administrations over the past few decades. He believes tariffs will solve this problem. “Tariffs will make our country rich again,” he told reporters.
He asked his team to turn words into action and create an executive order to be signed on the first day of his second term as president. These include across-the-board tariff measures on imports of goods and tackling immigration laws.
Mr. Trump has threatened all of Europe, as well as three of the United States’ largest trading partners: China, Mexico, and Canada. He has already declared a 25% import tariff on Canada and Mexico, and an initial 10% tariff on China.
The EU has large-scale free trade agreements with four major South American countries: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, and Europe has already begun exploring options other than the United States. The deal will benefit around 700 million people in Europe and South America.
After the agreement was signed, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen criticized Donald Trump without naming him. “A strong wind is blowing in the opposite direction (towards isolation and division),” he said, praising the free trade deal, calling it a “trade bride” between Europe and the United States. added the words.
Only Mr. Trump knows whether tariffs will truly help “make America great again,” or whether America will truly “lose to anyone.”
