Tariffs: EU leaders ready to respond to Trump’s trade measures

Brussels – “We can respond to policies on tariffs with policies on tariffs.” The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is the European leader who, upon his arrival for the informal European Council summit, makes it most clear that Europe is serious in the face of threats from Trump’s America. It will not stand idly by, it will not suffer, and it will respond if necessary. It is a line also expressed by the French president, Emmanuel Macron. “Trump’s statements push Europe to be more united,” meaning that “Europe must be respected and react,” he says. The words of the two leaders, on the one hand, confirm the Franco-German determination to engage with Washington, and on the other, a summit of leaders reshaped by Trump.

However, among the 27 member states, there is no shortage of uncertainty and those who show less resilience. In particular, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo admits that as far as his government is concerned, “we have to negotiate with Trump.” Helsinki thus appears ready to give in immediately in the face of threats of cost overruns against European products sold across the Atlantic. “We don’t want a [trade] war. We want negotiations,” he insists.

The Danish view is different. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen would like to avoid confrontation with those she still regards as ‘friends,’ all things considered. “I don’t like to fight allies,” she premised upon her arrival. “But if the United States imposes tariffs, then we will have to respond decisively and unitedly,” she argues. Then, a reminder, again for the White House tenant: “Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and it is not for sale.”

In the leaders’ summit initially designed to discuss only defense that seems to be shifting instead to trade and trans-Atlantic issues, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Kaja Kallas looks with concern at the risk of an all-Euro-Atlantic trade war because “in the trade war, nobody wins.” Or rather, “China gains,” she points out.