US president-elect retains the prospect of a transatlantic commerce battle within the air, precisely a month earlier than he is because of stroll again into the White Home.
EU officers performed down immediately Donald Trump’s newest tariff risk, after the US president-elect warned of dire penalties until the bloc ramps up its purchases of American oil and fuel.
Trump posted immediately on his Reality Social social media platform: “I informed the European Union that they need to make up their great deficit with the USA by the big scale buy of our oil and fuel. In any other case, it’s TARIFFS all the best way!!!”
Quizzed by reporters at a every day press briefing in Brussels, the European Fee’s commerce spokesman Olof Gill responded to what he described as “frequent feedback from the president-elect” on EU-US commerce issues.
“[T]he EU has a considerable commerce in items surplus with the US, whereas the US has a considerable commerce in providers surplus vis-á-vis the EU, and that’s not all the time mirrored in among the kinds of posts you are referencing,” Gill mentioned.
“So what we need to get throughout, and what we’ve got mentioned on quite a few events, together with from the highest degree President von der Leyen down, is that we’re prepared to debate with President-elect Trump how we will additional strengthen an already robust relationship, together with by discussing our widespread pursuits within the power sector,” the spokesman added.
Europe has considerably ramped up imports of liquefied pure fuel (LNG) from the US over the previous three years as Brussels seeks to diversify sources of provide away from Russia amid president Vladimir Putin’s undeclared battle on Ukraine.
Based on official EU figures, the US was the one largest supply of each petroleum and non-pipeline fuel within the third quarter of this 12 months, supplying simply over 15% of oil and nearly 38% of the bloc’s LNG imports.
By way of whole fuel imports, LNG and pipeline mixed, US exports coated a fifth of the EU demand final 12 months, second solely to the 30% that got here from neighbouring Norway, which is linked by a number of pipelines.
EU officers declined to verify whether or not Trump – as implied in his social media submit – had delivered his ultimatum to Brussels through any official channels.
“I can solely affirm that we’ve got seen the tweets, the premise on which you may have raised your questions,” the Fee’s deputy chief spokesperson Stefan de Keersmaecker mentioned, underlining as soon as once more “the significance of additional strengthening an already robust relationship”.