The EU’s trade chief has said that the EU will “respond firmly” if US president Donald Trump levies tariffs against EU exports to the US.
Speaking today (Tuesday, February 4), the European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Maros Sefcovic, said that, through “constructive engagement” with Trump’s administration, tariffs can be avoided.
Speaking to EU News Radio, Commissioner Sefcovic said: “We believe through constructive engagement and discussion we can resolve this problem.
“We are prepared for these negotiations but also, at the same time, it is very clear that if we would be hit unfairly or arbitrarily, we will respond firmly.”
He said that this issue would be discussed later today at a meeting of EU ministers in areas of trade and industry.
“I think this was very clearly confirmed by the leaders [of the EU], and this would be the topic we are going to discuss also with my European colleagues this afternoon,” he said.
“We are not going to speculate on what we might do. We would prefer to have early engagement with our US counterparts,” Commissioner Sefcovic added.
He said he was waiting for Trump’s nominee to head up the US Department of Commerce, businessman Howard Lutnick, to be confirmed in the role by the US Senate.
Lutnick has recently made critical comments on Ireland’s trade relationship with the US, saying in October: “It’s nonsense that Ireland of all places runs a trade surplus at our expense.”
Commissioner Sefcovic said: “I’m waiting for the completion of the confirmation process for the US secretary of commerce.
“We are ready to engage immediately and we hope that through this early engagement we can avoid the measures that would bring a lot of disturbance to the most important trade and investment relationship on this planet…and which more than four million people on both sides of the Atlantic depend on to have high quality jobs,” he added.
The meeting of ministers today will be attended by Ireland’s Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke.
He told EU News Radio: “What is critical is we keep the lines of communication open, and that’s what we are very much focused on in our new government in Ireland.
“Our new trade minister, our Tánaiste Simon Harris, is working very closely with the administration and ensuring that, any tension that may exist, that we discuss them, work them out, and ensure that we see the benefit of that very important relationship.” he added.
Minister Burke said: “We know [the EU-US transatlantic relationship] is the engine powerhouse of the global economy. It’s the largest global trading relationship, and it is critical that we protect it and keep negotiations open.”
Earlier in January, former Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue said that the possibility of Trump placing tariffs on agri-food exports to the US is a “lose-lose scenario”.
Trump has frequently indicated his intention to use tariffs on imports to the US on a wide range of products from several markets around the world as part of his economic and geopolitical agenda.
McConalogue had said that any tariff friction is “a threat to our food exports and the value of what we do, and indeed to incomes across the agri-food sector”.
“From our point of view as a government, working within the EU as well, it’s going to be really important that we try and ensure that there is good relationships there, and that there is good, fair, free trade in place,” the former minister said.