American President Donald Trump assured that European goods “very soon” will be subject to tariffs similar to those imposed on imports of products from Canada, Mexico and China, reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
”They really get an advantage over us - we have a $300 million deficit. They don't buy our cars or agricultural products, practically - nothing, but we all buy millions of cars, a huge amount of agricultural products”, Trump explained during a press conference. "I don't have a deadline, but it will be very soon," he replied when asked when the tariffs would be imposed.
Meanwhile, the US president announced that he would hold talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Mexican government this morning, after imposing a 25% tariff on goods from both countries.
"I will be talking to Prime Minister Trudeau and the Mexican government tomorrow morning, but I don't expect anything serious. We are imposing the tariffs because they owe us a lot of money," Trump said last night at a press conference in front of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Trump announced that he would suspend all future funding for South Africa until it investigates why "certain groups of people" have been “treated very badly“, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
“South Africa is confiscating land and treating certain groups of people very badly“, Trump wrote on his social network “Truth Social“, without providing any evidence for his claims.
“The United States will not tolerate this, we will act. In addition, I am terminating all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation into this situation is conducted“, he added.
Canada is “determined to defend its rights“ after Donald Trump sparked a trade war with its neighbor, the country's ambassador to London said and warned other countries around the world that they could be the next to suffer from the actions of the American president, BNR reported.
Ralph Goodale, Canada's high commissioner, as the official title for an ambassador from a Commonwealth country is, said in an interview with Sky News that he had never seen Canadians as united as in the past 48 hours since Trump announced the tariffs.
He echoed Justin Trudeau's comments that “everything is on the table“ when it comes to further counter-tariffs against the United States.
“We are determined to defend our territory, to defend our rights, to defend our sovereignty, our economy and Canadian jobs“, Goodale said.
He also characterized Trump's calls to made Canada its 51st state as “humiliating and offensive“.
“Canada is not for sale, and neither is our sovereignty“, the ambassador said. He said the current Canada-US border is “the longest, most successful, most profitable non-militarized international border in the entire world“.
Ralph Goodale issued a warning to the rest of the world:
“I would just say to our allies around the world – "Watch what happens, you could be next."
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck warned the United States against engaging in a trade war, calling it a "very bad alternative," and said Europe would take retaliatory measures, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
“As Europeans, we are ready for counter-tariffs“, said the Green Party politician. “Americans should know - this is a very bad alternative,“ he added.
Habeck also pointed out that tariffs increase inflation for consumers and companies in the United States. “This must be made clear to Americans,“ he said.