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Euro Trade Ministers Meet for Strategy 07/14 06:18
European trade ministers are meeting in Brussels on Monday, following U.S.
President Donald Trump's surprise announcement of 30% tariffs on the European
Union.
BRUSSELS (AP) -- European trade ministers are meeting in Brussels on Monday,
following U.S. President Donald Trump's surprise announcement of 30% tariffs on
the European Union.
The EU is America's biggest business partner and the world's largest trading
bloc. The U.S. decision will have repercussions for governments, companies and
consumers on both sides of the Atlantic.
"We shouldn't impose countermeasures at this stage, but we should prepare to
be ready to use all the tools in the toolbox," said Denmark's foreign minister,
Lars Lokke Rasmussen, told reporters ahead of the meeting. "So we want a deal,
but there's an old saying: 'If you want peace, you have to prepare for war.'"
The tariffs, also imposed on Mexico, are set to start on Aug. 1 and could
make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German
electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the U.S., and
destabilize economies from Portugal to Norway.
Meanwhile, Brussels decided to suspend retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods
scheduled to take effect Monday in hopes of reaching a trade deal with the
Trump administration by the end of the month.
The "countermeasures" by the EU, which negotiates trade deals on behalf of
its 27 member countries, will be delayed until Aug. 1.
Trump's letter shows "that we have until the first of August" to negotiate,
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels
on Sunday.
Maro efovi, the EU's trade representative in its talks with the
U.S., said negotiations would continue
"I'm absolutely 100% sure that a negotiated solution is much better than the
tension which we might have after the 1st of August," he told reporters in
Brussels on Monday.
"I cannot imagine walking away without genuine effort. Having said that, the
current uncertainty caused by unjustified tariffs cannot persist indefinitely
and therefore we must prepare for all outcomes, including, if necessary,
well-considered proportionate countermeasures to restore the balance in our
transit static relationship."
The letters to the EU and Mexico come in the midst of an on-and-off Trump
threat to impose tariffs on countries and right an imbalance in trade.
Trump imposed tariffs in April on dozens of countries, before pausing them
for 90 days to negotiate individual deals. As the three-month grace period
ended this week, he began sending tariff letters to leaders, but again has
pushed back the implementation day for what he says will be just a few more
weeks.
If he moves forward with the tariffs, it could have ramifications for nearly
every aspect of the global economy.
In the wake of the new tariffs, European leaders largely closed ranks,
calling for unity but also a steady hand to not provoke further acrimony.
Just last week, Europe was cautiously optimistic.
Officials told reporters on Friday they weren't expecting a letter like the
one sent Saturday and that a trade deal was to be inked in "the coming days."
For months, the EU has broadcast that it has strong retaliatory measures ready
if talks fail.
Reeling from successive rebukes from Washington, efovi said Monday the
EU is "doubling down on efforts to open new markets" and pointed to a new
economic agreement with Indonesia as one.
The EU top brass will visit Beijing fora summit later this month while
courting other Pacific nations like South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, the
Philippines, and Indonesia, whose prime minister visited Brussels over the
weekend to sign a new economic partnership with the EU. It also has mega-deals
in the works with Mexico and a trading bloc of South American nations known as
Mercosur.
While meeting with Indonesia's president on Sunday, Von der Leyen said that
"when economic uncertainty meets geopolitical volatility, partners like us must
come closer together."
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