Europe must anticipate any trade tariffs that the new US administration intends to impose. This statement was made by European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde in an interview with CNBC.
“What we need to do here in Europe is to be prepared and to anticipate what will happen in order to respond“, she said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Lagarde says the fact that US leader Donald Trump did not impose general tariffs on the first day of his presidency is “a very smart approach“. “Because common tariffs don't always produce the results you expect“, she added.
Earlier, European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Valdis Dombrovskis saidthat Europe would be ready to respond to any tariffs from the new US administration in a proportionate manner. According to him, European officials are negotiating with their American counterparts to find a pragmatic solution to the issue.
Trump announced his intention to impose increased import tariffs on the EU if Brussels does not increase the volume of purchases of oil and gas from the US. “I told the EU that it must compensate for the huge deficit in trade relations with the US by significantly increasing its purchases of our oil and gas. Otherwise, it will face full tariffs!“, Trump wrote on his page on the social network Truth Social.