EU Ministers to Hold Crisis Talks Today to Avert Trade War with US
Today, European ministers will hold emergency talks on US President Donald Trump's escalating trade tariffs, Politico reports.
‘We have to respond. We can't just do nothing,’ said one EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. ‘Negotiations are always the best,’ another Brussels official added.
The day before, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she had held a ‘fruitful discussion of our common challenges as allies’ with US Vice President J.D. Vance.
‘Welcome to Europe, Vice President Vance. Thank you for a good discussion on our common challenges as allies. From security and stability to the great promise of technology and the critical issue of non-market overcapacity,’ the President of the European Commission said after the meeting.
Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday, 11 February, during a meeting in Paris with the new US Vice President J.D. Vance, noted the European Union's commitment to a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.
She added that she looked forward to continuing to work with the US administration.
A month later, on 12 March, 25 per cent duties are set to take effect on all steel and aluminium imported into the US. There are currently no exemptions for the EU or the UK.
European governments are well aware that a decision to stand up to the White House could anger the unpredictable president and tip the balance of his thinking on other issues.
Trump has already threatened military action against Denmark to seize Greenland, a mineral-rich Danish territory in the Arctic. The big fear that haunts European capitals is that he will impose a peaceful settlement on Ukraine regardless of any substantive input from Kyiv or Brussels.
Both European and British officials have long known that Trump might want to impose tariffs - he advocated protectionist measures during his election campaign last year - and have prepared appropriate measures in response.
Von der Leyen's officials have a set of measures in place, including the swift reinstatement of tariffs on US exports of goods such as bourbon whiskey, Harley-Davidson motorcycles and cranberry juice.
Brussels introduced these measures after Trump first announced tariffs on steel and aluminium in 2018. They were cancelled after a truce in the trade war later, during Joe Biden's presidency.
