President Donald Trump has made it clear he aims to exact a price from imposing staggering tariffs on America’s closest neighbours and strongest allies aimed at empowering consumers in the country
Donald Trump questioned on possible UK and EU tariffs
Donald Trump said the UK is “out of line” as he threatened to slap tariffs on the country and the European Union (EU) – sparking fears of multi-market slumps.
The Republican President hinted the EU would be the next major body to face punishing tariffs aimed at damaging the economies of trading blocks and countries who he views as damaging American interests. Trump last night announced how new tariffs on the EU would “definitely happen” as he signalled he would expand the trade war beyond North America.
The US President this weekend announced he will impose a 25 per cent trade tax on goods coming from America’s nearest neighbours and largest trade partners – Canada and Mexico – as well as a 10 per cent levy on Chinese goods. But while he hinted huge tariffs on the EU, Trump signalled some sort of deal could be done with the UK – although he has been shy on detailing what this would mean.
When asked if he’ll slap tariffs on the UK, Mr Trump said: “We’re going to see what happens. It’ll happen. It might. We’ll see how things work out. It might happen with them but it will definitely happen with the European Union because they’re really take advantage of us. We have an over $300billion (£244bn) deficit.
“They don’t take our cars. They don’t take our farm products. They take almost nothing. And we take everything from them, millions of cars, tremendous amounts of food and farm products… so the EU is really out line.. .the EU is an atrocity what they’ve done.”
He added: “The UK is out of line but I think that one can be worked out” Asked about Mr Starmer, “Well Prime Minister Starmer has been very nice. We’ve had a couple of meetings. We’ve had numerous phone calls. We’re getting on very well. We’ll see if we can balance out our budget.”
Trump’s trade war has spooked markets as they opened across Asia as it became clear the president would not back down. According to Sky News, markets in South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong are all down between 1 and 2 per cent. China has not shared much reaction to the 10 per cent levy on its goods due to being in the middle of Chinese New Year celebrations that will end on Wednesday.
The overwhelming majority of economists believe Trump’s trade war will harm consumers in the targeted countries as well as in the US. Trump ran on slapping tariffs on goods coming into the US amid claims that Americans were being ripped off. His tariffs will put taxes on goods coming into the US from another company. While importers will pay these levies, they are likely to pass these costs onto the consumer via higher prices.
Trump has argued that staggering tariffs are designed to get Mexico, Canada and China to tackle the fentanyl crisis that kills tens of thousands of Americans each year as well as stemming the flow of illegal immigrants pouring in from the southern border. Canadian and Mexican leaders have vowed to match the tariffs dollar for dollar, although the White House has warned this could trigger an extension of the tariff measures.