The European Union still believes in keeping the United States as a strategic partner despite the increasingly hard rhetoric and stance of Donald Trump and his administration.
Economic Affairs Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis reassured on the issue while in Washington during a series of meetings organised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. He said, “the European Union is not abandoning its closest, deepest and most important partnership, that with the United States.”
His words were echoed also by French Economy Minister Eric Lombard, who is sure the EU and the US can make a deal to pass the current trade war and added that the bloc “is seeking to negotiate a solution, an agreement that would be win-win for both parties.”
Ever since assuming office a second time, Trump raised the temperature against trade partners, slapping tariffs on all of them, including the EU. Currently, the bloc has a general 10% tariff on its exports to the US, with some sectors having even higher rates.
The EU is trying to avoid retaliations, as Dombrovskis mentioned. “We have made it very clear that we want a negotiated solution,” he said, adding that “we have made proposals and are ready to negotiate” but expects “more clarity on the expectations of the American side.”
A similar concept also came from Lombard, who said, “I want to emphasise that we truly hope that we will not have to take such actions [retaliatory tariffs] thanks to reaching an agreement with the United States,” whilst being ready in case of negative negotiations. In addition, the French minister was sure that “the current period of turbulence is worrying but temporary.”
Overall, the EU doesn’t want a full rejection of the US as a trading partner, but according to the Commissioner, the bloc is on the look for new trading partners with other countries in order “to strengthen economic security at home.”
