US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that European products will be “very soon” targeting customs duties, after customs duties imposed on products from Canada, Mexico and China.
“They really benefit from us as you know, we have a deficit of $ 300 billion, they do not take our cars or our agricultural products, almost nothing, and we take everything, millions of cars and agricultural products at huge rates,” Trump told the press.
“I have no timetable, but it will happen very soon,” he added.
European positions
In turn, French Industry Minister Mark Ferrasi considered on Sunday that Europe should “assume a form of power balance” in the face of Trump’s threats to impose customs duties.
“The trade negotiations with Donald Trump must take a form of balance of power,” he said, adding, “It is clear that we will have to respond.”
The minister indicated that he is waiting for the decisions of the American administration, and considered that “until the response is effective, he must focus on the important products for the other party and the country that is negotiating with it.”
He added, “It should be – as they say – severe, that is, it has repercussions on the American economy so that there is a threat to the negotiations.”
“We have to stop naivety,” the French Minister of Industry continued, calling for a “better protection for our industry” by implementing the “European Products Buying Law” in order to give priority to manufactured products in Europe.
He stressed that “the challenge we face is to remain united, and benefit from the power that this union gives us, that is, the joint market that the United States cannot dispense with.”
“We should not start making concessions, and we should not start by saying that we will buy more American products on this industrial, agricultural or that front,” Ferrasi also said.
The 27 European Union member states are still divided between a “defensive” position that tends to buy American products, such as LNG or weapons, in an attempt to escape a trade dispute with the Trump administration or a more “offensive” approach that tends to take potential reprisals.
For his part, German Chancellor Olaf Schults said on Sunday that it is important not to divide the world by setting up new commercial barriers, stressing that everyone benefits from globalization.
“We will try to continue economic relations together from the perspective of cooperation and joint work,” said Schultz after a meeting with British Prime Minister Kiir Starmer.
German opposition leader Friedrich Mertz – the most prominent candidate to win the position of consultant in the upcoming elections – had previously expressed concern about customs duties as well.
“The customs duties were never a good idea to resolve commercial policy conflicts,” Mertz told a conference organized by the Christian Democratic Union Party before the elections scheduled for February 23.
He added that the cost of customs duties will ultimately burden American consumers, calling on the European Union to enter into negotiations with the United States.
As for the member of the European Central Bank Governors, Class Knut, he said yesterday that he expects the new customs duties imposed by Donald Trump will lead to high inflation and interest rates in the United States, which will probably weaken the euro.
Canadian moves
Trump also announced on Sunday that he will hold talks this morning with the resigned Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and with the Mexican government after yesterday he imposed customs duties by 25% on products from both countries.
“I will talk to Prime Minister Trudeau tomorrow morning (Monday), and I will also talk to Mexico tomorrow morning, we have imposed customs definitions because they owe us a lot of money, I am sure they will pay,” Trump told the press before leaving his residence in Maralago, Florida.
On the other hand, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on his citizens to support local products, after the US administration announced the imposition of new customs duties on his country’s imports.
“Now is the time to choose the goods made in Canada,” Trudeau said in a post on the X platform on Sunday.
Trudeau urged citizens to ensure commodity posters to support local products, stressing that the Canadian people should play its role.
Canadian officials announced yesterday that they will provide a mechanism for Canadian companies to obtain an exemption from reprisal customs duties that are scheduled to enter into force against the United States in the coming days.
Under the so -called “exemption process”, Canadian companies can apply for a customs duties exemption or money recovery, provided that they meet certain conditions.
Companies will be eligible for exemption if it is not possible to obtain goods locally or reasonably from non -American sources.
“We want to preserve this relationship, but in the face of unjustified American customs duties against Canadian goods, we are taking measures to protect our economy, workers and companies, we will always stand with Canada,” Canadian Finance Minister Dominic Le Plan said in a statement.
The Canadian government announced reprisals the day before yesterday, Saturday, in response to a set of new customs duties announced by President Donald Trump.
For his part, a senior government official said on Sunday that Canada will take a legal action before international bodies related to challenging the customs duties imposed by the United States.
“We will certainly continue to resort to the legal means that we believe we have through the agreements we share with the United States,” said the official in a press statement in Ottawa – a condition of anonymity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rb2hc52rky
Mexican reaction
Mexican President Claudia Shinbom announced on Sunday that she was waiting for a response from Trump to propose and conduct a dialogue after his decision to impose a 25% tax on Mexican exports, adding that she would detail Mexico’s response on Monday morning.
In a “message to the Mexican people” I published on social media, Shinbom said, “I suggest that we wait for President Trump’s response to our proposal.”
She promised to detail the “first measures” that she intended to take in response to Trump’s unilateral decision.
Shinbom announced the day before yesterday, Saturday, “customs and non -customs measures to defend the interests of Mexico”, without taking details.
It also proposed to its American counterpart to form a “working group that includes our best security and general health teams” to work on the issue of drug and immigration smuggling.
Xinbom stressed that “Mexico does not want to confront”, noting the slogan “Coordination … yes, dependency … no.”
“We do not solve problems by imposing customs duties.”
He described the accusations made by the American president to the Mexican government as associated with the “organized crime” of drug gangs as “irresponsible” statements and “slander”.
American pain
In the context, Trump admitted that the customs duties imposed on Mexico, Canada and China may cause “short -term” pain for the Americans.
Trump confirms that these measures are necessary to reduce migration and trafficking Drugs and stimulating local industries.
“We may suffer from some pain in the short term, and people understand That is, but in the long run, the United States was deceived by Almost all countries of the world. “
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aym4vj3wgwg
Global effects
Economists said that the Republican President’s plan to impose customs duties by 25% on Canada, Mexico and 10% on China (the 3 largest commercial partners for the United States) would slow global growth and drive prices to rise for Americans.
North America companies prepared for new drawings that could turn the sectors upside down, from cars to consumer goods to energy.
The customs duties imposed by Trump will cover approximately half of the total American imports, and will require the United States to double its industrial production to fill the gap, a task of books of analysts in ING that it is not implemented in the short term.
In a note issued yesterday, Sunday, analysts said, “From an economic point of view, the escalation of commercial tensions represents a losing situation for all the countries concerned.”
Other analysts said that customs duties may push Canada and Mexico to recession and lead to “inflationary recession”, that is, high inflation, economic growth stagnation and high unemployment rates at home.
The customs duties imposed by Trump, shown on 3 executive orders, are scheduled to enter at 12:01 am EST (01: 01 GMT) tomorrow, Tuesday.
Some analysts said that there is some hope for negotiations, especially with Canada and China.
Economists at Goldman Sachs said that the fees are likely to be temporary, but the expectations are not clear because the White House has set very general conditions to cancel them.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll showed last week that the Americans were divided into customs duties, 54 % of them opposed the new customs duties on imported goods and supported them 43 %, Democrats were more opposed and the Republicans were more supportive.
