The European Commission has considered the possibility of increasing imports from the US and reducing the trade surplus, a decision may be made to buy more American agricultural and defence products, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources.
Such measures are being studied in the wake of Republican Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, who has promised to impose tariffs and shift more defence spending to European allies. WSJ writes that US-EU ties will depend in part on whether European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen succeeds in “cooling the president-elect’s anger” toward the EU.
According to the interlocutors, building a working relationship with the new White House will require measures that go beyond trade relations, such as taking a bigger share in aid to Ukraine and increasing defence spending, including on US military equipment.
The EU is focused on co-operation, is evaluating all possible solutions and is also “ready for disruptive scenarios,” Sabine Weyand, who heads the EU trade directorate, said. The EU’s new foreign policy chief, former Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas, recently revealed plans to speak to Trump in “the language of deals” to persuade him not to withhold aid to Ukraine.
Von der Leyen and Trump have different approaches to politics: he is known for his unpredictability, while she couldn’t be further from that style, the WSJ writes: “Her organised, tight control of the Brussels bureaucracy is intolerant of any hint of chaos. She has set up sleeping quarters in the European Commission building and works around the clock.”
The European authorities’ concerns stem from Trump’s promise to impose tariffs on all $3 trillion worth of US imports, which would affect $575 billion worth of cars, pharmaceuticals and other imports from Europe. Trump said:
“I’ll tell you what: the European Union sounds so cute, so wonderful, doesn’t it? All these nice little European countries coming together. They don’t take our cars. They don’t take our agricultural products. They sell millions and millions of cars in the United States. No, no, no, no, they’re going to have to pay a big price.”
