An EU spokesman says the 27-nation bloc, which already buys most of the US’s oil and gas exports, is open to talks with the president-elect.
Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on the European Union if the bloc stops buying oil and gas from the United States latest economic warning by the US president-elect ahead of his inauguration next month.
In a short post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he had told the EU “that they must make up their huge deficit with the United States by purchasing our oil and gas on a large scale.”
“Otherwise it’s all the tariffs!!!” he wrote.
Trump, who takes office on January 20, has already threatened to impose steep tariffs on some of Washington’s key trading partners, which could send shockwaves through the global economy.
He said last month that he planned to impose tariffs of 25 percent Canada and Mexico if the two countries did not do more to curb irregular migration and drug trafficking across their borders with the United States.
Trump also threatened one additional 10 percent tariff about China, the country’s biggest geopolitical rival.
Responding to questions about Trump’s threat on Friday, an EU spokesman said the 27-nation bloc was open to talks and pointed out that the US also had “a significant services trade surplus with the EU.”
“We are ready to discuss with them President-elect Trump “How we can further strengthen an already strong relationship, including by discussing our shared interests in the energy sector,” Olof Gill said during a press conference.
The EU is already buying the lion’s share of it US oil and gas exportsAccording to the U.S. government, no additional volumes are currently available unless the United States increases production or volumes are redirected from Asia, another major U.S. energy consumer.
According to the US, imports of goods from the EU totaled $553.3 billion in 2022, while exports to the bloc totaled $350.8 billion.
That brings it US trade in goods The deficit with the EU this year was $202.5 billion.
Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull said in a report from Brussels on Friday that Trump’s threat of tariffs had cemented fears in European capitals “of a possible trade war” with the US.
“What a trade war with the US could mean for the already anemic EU economies and indeed for the political prospects of leaders in these (European) capitals” are also important questions, Hull reported.
The 27 EU member states also do not have a “concerted and agreed plan of attack,” he said.
“For example, are they okay with buying more oil and gas? They said they were already willing to do that,” Hull said.
“Or are they preparing a series of retaliatory tariffs as they have done throughout the year? first Trump administration? Or perhaps a combination of both to strengthen their position in the negotiations?”
This month the EU concluded a comprehensive trade agreement with four South American countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – with the aim of creating a free trade zone that would cover 700 million customers.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had said the agreement would build trade bridges as “strong winds are blowing in the opposite direction, towards isolation and fragmentation” – comments largely seen as a reference to Trump’s threats to increase the Customs duties were assessed.
Some analysts believe that the US president-elect’s tariff threats when he takes office could be a trump card or an initial lever for future trade negotiations.
But Trump has always insisted that tariffs, “used correctly,” would have a positive impact on the U.S. economy.
“Our country is losing to everyone right now,” he told reporters this week. “Tariffs will make our country rich.”
