European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union is “ready to negotiate” with President Donald Trump over tariffs, noting that “we have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods.”
Speaking in Brussels Monday, the head of the EU’s executive arm called Trump’s economic policy a “major turning point for the United States.”
“These tariffs come first and foremost at immense costs for U.S. consumers and businesses, but at the same time they have a massive impact on the global economy. Especially hard-hit are the developing countries,” she said.
“Nonetheless, we stand ready to negotiate with the United States. Indeed, we have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods, as we have successfully done with many other trading partners, because Europe is always ready for a good deal. So we keep it on the table,” she added.
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Von der Leyen also said “in parallel we are preparing a potential list for retaliation and other measures for retaliation if this is necessary” and that “We prefer to have a negotiated solution.”
“We will set up an import surveillance task force. We will work with industry to make sure we have that necessary evidence base for our policy measures,” she also said. “And we will stay in very close contact to minimize effects of our actions on each other.”
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Her remarks come after Trump announced fresh 20% tariffs on EU imports last week.
“Tariffs are taxes that will be paid by the people. Tariffs are taxes for the Americans on their groceries and their medication. Tariffs will just fuel inflation, exactly the opposite of what we wanted to achieve,” she said in a speech Tuesday to the European Parliament.
Trump said Sunday that “We have massive Financial Deficits with China, the European Union, and many others. The only way this problem can be cured is with TARIFFS, which are now bringing Tens of Billions of Dollars into the U.S.A. They are already in effect, and a beautiful thing to behold.”
FOX Business’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
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