EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday that the bloc has offered a “zero-for-zero tariff” trade arrangement on industrial goods with the United States in a bid to avoid a full-on trade war.
While the EU chief continued to condemn the reciprocal tariff measures enacted by U.S. President Donald Trump to rectify the long-standing transatlantic trade imbalance, as pressure from the markets began to take shape, Von der Leyen and other top eurocrats expressed willingness to negotiate with the White House.
“We stand ready to negotiate with the US,” the EU president said. “We have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods as we have successfully done with many other trading partners. Because Europe is always ready for a good deal. So we keep it on the table.”
However, the German politician did not address other significant areas of concern expressed by the Trump administration, such as restrictions on American food imports or, perhaps more significantly, on EU tariffs against U.S. made automobiles, which currently stand at around four times the rate European cars are taxed when sent to the United States.
Von der Leyen warned that Brussels is “prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests if the trade dispute continues.” The EU chief said that Brussels will take a two-pronged approach towards the Trump tariffs, firstly by reducing internal barriers within the bloc — as opposed to reducing further barriers with the U.S. — and of “diversifying” Europe’s trading partners.
“This is why we are deepening our relations with our trading partners: You know the deals we have done with Mercosur, Mexico, Switzerland, and we are working with India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and many others. With that, we want to be very clear: Europe stands together for our businesses and with our businesses for all Europeans in the European Union and beyond,” she said.
Hellbound and Down 