The return of donald trump to the White House has resurrected in the European Union the fear of a new trade war with the United States, a possibility that European leaders try to avoid with calls for closer ties between two “allies” facing a “common” competitor in China.
When the results were already certain Trump’s victorymany European leaders sent congratulations on social networks in which they called for closer ties between both parties and this message was repeated on multiple occasions during the two days of the summit in Budapest.
“We are allies and it would be absurd for allies to impose tariffs on each other. Our common competitor is China,” said the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croolater supported by the Austrian Chancellor, Karl Nehammer, for whom the priority is to avoid a trade war that, he said, would benefit no one.
“We have to work togetherwe are allies and close friends. I would prefer not to compete with each other. In this world of so much insecurity we have to be together,” defended the Danish Mette Frederiksen.
However, the Italian Mario Draghi assured that Trump will adopt measures to boost the technology industry and to protect “traditional” American sectors, to the detriment of its European competitors, and said that the priorities of his report for improve competitiveness European Union are “even more urgent” after the US elections.
New tariffs
The fear of a repeat of the trade dispute that already dominated relations between both parties in Trump’s first term is based on his campaign promise to impose tariffs of between 10% and 20%.
The objective of the next tenant of the White House would be to attack the trade surplus of 155.8 billion euros that the bloc has with the United States, in which the big drivers are German exports (157,732 million), Italian (67,266 million) and Irish (51,621 million), the countries that exported the most to the US in 2023, according to the European statistical office, Eurostat.
European sales to the North American partner They mainly involve the pharmaceutical and automotive sectors, but the two areas also have important exchanges in the agricultural field.
The United States is the second destination for European exports in 2023, representing 12% of them (27.2 billion euros), although these decreased in 1.8 billion (6%) compared to the previous year, especially due to the 27% drop in the sale of spirits and liqueurs, according to the latest report published by the European Commission.
In addition, it is the fourth country of origin of agricultural imports to the Twenty-Seven, of which it represents 7% (11.7 billion), 4% less than the previous year due to the decrease in the arrival of fruits, cereals and non-edible products. .
New obstacles to trade would also join disputes that remain open, such as the one that affects public aid from both parties to Boeing and Airbus or the taxes on imports of Spanish black olives.
Although they did agree suspend liensthe dispute remains open over the tariffs on European steel and aluminum that Trump imposed in his first term – and that Brussels responded with penalties on American products – despite the negotiations with the Joe Biden administration.
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