WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the European Union (EU) has the capacity to retaliate against US tariffs, Anadolu reports.
Speaking in Brussels ahead of the first-ever EU leaders' meeting dedicated to defense, Scholz said that the topic of cooperation between the EU and the US would be intensively discussed.
"Both the US and Europe benefit from trade in goods and services. If trade policies make this difficult, it will be bad for both sides," he said, according to N1.
Scholz stressed the EU's ability to react to US tariffs.
"What is clear is that, as a strong economic region, we can shape our policies in response to tariffs with our own tariffs. That is something we must and will do. The goal should be to act in a way that leads to cooperation," Scholz said.
Fulfilling a campaign promise, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Saturday to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% on Chinese products.
The EU is now bracing for a possible trade war.
On Sunday evening, Trump told reporters that he would “definitely” impose tariffs on European products.
“I can tell you that, because they really took advantage of the situation. You know, we have a deficit of more than $300 billion,” Trump said.
“The European Union – that’s a real atrocity what they did.”
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz expressed concern about possible US tariffs on the EU during his party’s congress on Monday, warning that tariffs were never a good way to resolve trade disputes.
Merz stressed that Trump’s tariffs would ultimately hurt American consumers.
“The EU has to enter negotiations with the US as a single bloc,” he said.
Trump's tariff threats come ahead of snap elections in Germany.
The three-party coalition government collapsed in November last year due to disagreements over the budget and economic recovery measures.
Germany will hold snap elections on February 23, and one of the key issues in the campaign is the faltering economy.
The German economy contracted for the second year in a row in 2024.
After a 0.2 percent decline in the last quarter of 2024, it faces a technical recession if the decline continues into the first quarter of 2025.
