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Trump rejects EU's zero-to-zero tariff offer: Demands $350 billion in US energy purchases

Politiko 2025-04-08 14:43:23

Trump rejects EU's zero-to-zero tariff offer: Demands $350 billion in US

US President Donald Trump has openly rejected the European Union's offer to mutually remove tariffs on cars and industrial goods, setting Brussels a clear condition: purchasing US energy worth $350 billion.

Trump's comments came during a White House press conference, where he was asked about the proposal by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. She had previously said the EU was ready to remove tariffs if the US did the same. But the US president rejected the idea, saying: "No, it's not enough."

“We have a $350 billion trade deficit with the European Union, and it needs to go away quickly. One way to do that is to get them to commit to buying our energy,” Trump said. “They can buy it, and we can fix this problem in a week.”

The statement follows the Trump administration's decision last week to impose 20% tariffs on the EU and a minimum 10% tax on other trading partners. As a result, global markets have suffered heavy losses, with European stocks posting their deepest declines since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trump appeared at the conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in Washington for talks on tariffs and economic cooperation. The US president stressed that he was willing to reach a deal with the EU as long as it helped close the deficit through purchases of American energy.

Although the idea of ​​increasing purchases of liquefied natural gas from the US has been discussed earlier by Von der Leyen, the United States has not yet provided clarity on the possible forms of such an agreement.

Asked whether the tariffs are temporary or permanent, Trump said they could be both: "If we can make a really fair deal for the United States, then yes. It's America First now."

In further statements, Trump demanded that the EU lower its non-monetary standards that, according to him, hinder the entry of American goods into the European market. He alluded to a return to the economic model of the last century: “Until 1913, the US was the most powerful country and everything was based on tariffs. We had no income tax. Then someone thought of taxing our own people instead of taxing the countries that were exploiting us.”

This latest showdown shows that trade relations between the US and the EU remain tense and a clear agreement still seems far away.

 

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