US President Donald Trump said that the tariffs he imposed on Mexico, Canada and China may cause some inconvenience to Americans, but he again defended his decision, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
“The United States has a large deficit with Canada, Mexico and China and we will never be a stupid country again“, Trump wrote on his social network “Truth Social“, where, speaking of the deficit, he mentioned the amount of 36 trillion dollars.
Trump again emphasized that this will be the Golden Age for America. He added that Americans may experience some inconvenience from the tariffs, but immediately added that they may not experience anything like that. Trump never clarified what exactly he meant by this statement.
The tariffs take effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern US time on Tuesday.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said today that it is important not to divide the world with new trade barriers, as everyone benefits from globalization, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
In this way, he criticized the tariffs introduced by Donald Trump for three countries.
Trump also threatened the European Union with tariffs. When asked about possible retaliatory measures by the EU, if Trump follows through on his threat, Scholz said that the bloc has “opportunities to act“ as a major economic power.
Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany's conservatives and a frontrunner to become the next chancellor, also expressed concern about tariffs, stressing that they were never a good idea for resolving trade policy conflicts. Merz said tariffs would ultimately burden American consumers and thus provoke resistance at home, adding that the EU must now enter into negotiations with the United States as a single entity.