Trump rejects EU trade offer, hints at tariff tensions ahead
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the European Union's offer to eliminate tariffs on industrial goods in trade with the U.S. is insufficient. He also ruled out suspending tariffs, although he mentioned that "great progress" is being made in trade talks with various countries.
During a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump was asked about the EU's "zero for zero" proposal concerning tariffs on industrial goods and cars. He remarked that the offer is inadequate.
Trump reiterated grievances against the EU, accusing it of "taking advantage" of the United States and claimed that the EU was formed "to create a unified force against the United States in trade matters."
- We have a deficit with the European Union of $350 billion and it's gonna disappear fast - Trump assured. - One of the ways that that can disappear easily and quickly is they're gonna have to buy our energy from us ... they can buy it, we can knock off $350 billion in one week. They have to buy and commit to buy a like amount of energy - Trump said.
In reality, the EU's surplus in goods trade with the U.S. is about $150 billion, but the U.S. has a surplus of $100 billion in services trade.
When questioned about the ambiguity regarding whether the announced tariffs will remain permanent, as Trump simultaneously discusses negotiating to lower them, the U.S. president replied that both things could be true.
It's the only chance our country will have to reset the table. Because no other president would be willing to do what I'm doing, or to even go through it. Now, I don't mind going through it because I see a beautiful picture at the end - Trump asserted.
However, he did not commit to lowering tariffs, including on Israel, despite its announcement to remove all tariffs on U.S. products.
Meanwhile, when asked why he did not impose tariffs on goods from Russia, Trump replied that it's because "they practically don't do business with Russia because they are at war" (in reality, Russian imports to the U.S. amounted to $3 billion). He also assessed that talks with Ukraine are "somewhat close" to success, but noted that he does not like all the bombing he has seen over the past week.
