Davos, Jan 25 : U.S. President Donald Trump sharply criticized the European Union (EU) on Thursday, accusing it of unfair trade practices during a virtual address at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
“From the standpoint of America, the EU treats us very, very unfairly, very badly,” Trump said, reiterating his long-standing complaints about the EU’s trade relationship with the United States.
Trump’s remarks come amid growing tensions over potential tariffs, a topic that has dominated discussions at this year’s WEF.
“They make it very difficult to bring products into Europe, and yet they expect to be selling and they do sell their products in the United States,” Trump continued. “We have, you know, hundreds of billions of dollars of deficits with the EU, and nobody’s happy with it. And we’re going to do something about it.”
The U.S. president went on to highlight several specific areas of trade dispute, including what he views as the EU’s reluctance to purchase U.S. farm products and cars, while sending millions of cars to the U.S.
“They essentially don’t take our farm products and they don’t take our cars, yet they send cars to us by the millions,” Trump said. He also criticized EU tariffs, asserting: “They put tariffs on things that we want to do … We have some very big complaints with the EU.”
Trump’s comments echo previous threats to impose tariffs on the EU unless it increased its purchases of U.S. oil and gas. In December, he warned that the EU would face “tariffs all the way.” European officials have expressed a willingness to boost U.S. energy purchases in exchange for tariff relief.
“There’s no reason why it can’t go faster … I’m trying to be constructive, because I love Europe,” Trump added, suggesting that speeding up the approval process for trade would improve competitiveness.
While the U.S. is the largest recipient of EU goods, accounting for nearly a fifth of the bloc’s exports, it has a significant trade deficit with the EU, particularly in machinery and vehicles. In 2023, this deficit amounted to 102 billion euros ($106 billion). However, the U.S. maintains a trade surplus with the EU in energy and services, with the surplus in energy valued at 70 billion euros.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, speaking earlier this week at Davos, warned that the EU must be “prepared” for the imposition of U.S. tariffs under Trump. She praised his decision not to immediately implement blanket tariffs, stating it was “a very smart approach… because blanket tariffs are not necessarily giving you the results that you expect.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also weighed in, telling CNBC that a trade war between the EU and the U.S. would not be in the best interests of either side. “Our economies are very interlinked,” he said.
Trump’s remarks underscore the ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and the EU, which could have significant implications for the global economy.
