EU signals readiness for talks with Trump amid tariff threats

Brussels: The European Union (EU) has expressed its willingness to engage in trade discussions with US President-elect Donald Trump, especially regarding energy issues, as stated by a European Commission spokesperson. Olof Gill mentioned at a news conference that the EU is ready to explore ways to further enhance their strong relationship, particularly focusing on common.

Brussels: The European Union (EU) has expressed its willingness to engage in trade discussions with US President-elect Donald Trump, especially regarding energy issues, as stated by a European Commission spokesperson. Olof Gill mentioned at a news conference that the EU is ready to explore ways to further enhance their strong relationship, particularly focusing on common interests in the energy sector.

This announcement follows Trump’s warning on Truth Social, where he threatened potential tariffs on the EU unless the bloc significantly increases its purchases of US oil and gas. Trump stated, “I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large-scale purchase of our oil and gas. Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!”

In response, the EU pushed back, highlighting that while the US has a goods trade deficit with the EU, it actually enjoys a surplus in services. According to Eurostat data, last year the US faced a trade deficit of 155.8 billion euros (about 162.51 billion USD) in goods with the EU, offset by a surplus of 104 billion euros in services.

Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta criticized Trump’s threats in an interview with CNBC, advising the EU to be ready for potential retaliation. He described Trump’s approach as “transactional” and “asymmetric,” suggesting that the conflation of energy and tariffs could be problematic. Letta proposed that the EU might consider responding on a financial level, calling attention to the imbalanced nature of their financial relationship.

Trump’s remarks have unsettled European stock markets, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index dropping by 0.88 percent on Friday, having previously experienced a downturn of as much as 2 percent during the day. (1 euro = 1.04 USD)