Europe Prepares To Fight Trump’s Tariffs
Europe will react to any tariffs the United States imposed by President Donald Trump, the EU’s economic commissioner told CNBC on Wednesday.
Valdis Dombrovskis told CNBC on Wednesday that “we will respond proportionately if it is necessary to defend our economic interests.”
He added, “We’re ready to defend our values and Europe’s interests and rights if necessary.” Trump told reporters that the EU was “very, very bad to us” and reiterated his threat to impose tariffs on EU goods entering the United States since his inauguration on Monday.
‘Tariffs will therefore be imposed on them.‘ He added that his administration discussed putting an extra 10% tax on Chinese imports beginning in February.
According to Dombrovskis, the U.S. and Europe were strategic partners, and their cooperation was crucial from a geopolitical and economic standpoint. He claimed that Europeans were speaking with their U.S. counterparts to resolve the tariff debate in a “pragmatic” manner.
A potential trade conflict would have a “substantial economic cost for everyone, including the United States,” Dombrovskis added following a meeting of Finance Ministers in Brussels.
“If it becomes necessary to defend Europe’s economic interests, we are prepared to do so, just as we did during the first Trump administration (2017-2021), when it introduced tariffs on steel and aluminum,” he emphasized.
At the time, Europeans had responded “proportionately,” noted the European Commissioner, with retaliatory tariffs on American products such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles and Bourbon whiskey

