(Washington) Donald Trump said he was sure “100 %” that an agreement on customs duties with the European Union would be concluded, receiving Italian leader Giorgia Meloni on Thursday in Washington, pressed by Brussels to speak on behalf of the twenty-seven.
Updated yesterday at 4:29 p.m.
“There will be a 100 % trade agreement,” said the American president.
The Italian Prime Minister, the first European leader to visit the White House since the brutal customs offensive launched by her tenant, responded in unison, “certain” that an agreement will be reached.
Sign that there remains a lot to do, Donald Trump said he was “in a hurry” and that Giorgia Meloni had not vary it with a strategy.
Trump said that customs duties “enrich” the United States, evoking those he imposed in Canada and Mexico-which the president has linked to fentanyl traffic-as well as 25 % customs duties on steel, aluminum and automobile which, according to him, fill the federal funds.
The United States is “under discussion” with China, he also said.
As relations are tense between the EU and the United States by the trade war led by the Republican President with his all-round customs rights, the head of the ultra-conservative coalition in power in Rome said “not being able to negotiate on behalf of the European Union”.
Beside her in the oval office, she however announced a visit to Rome by Donald Trump “in the near future” and thanked her for “considering the possibility of also meeting Europe on this occasion”.
In the midst of a trade war, the European Central Bank (ECB) has just agreed for a drop of 0.25 point of guiding rates to strengthen the economy of the euro zone.
Its president Christine Lagarde said Thursday that the ECB should “face the unpredictable” and be “agile” in the face of the moving economic context.
“Very special relationship”
Donald Trump still sharpened his attacks on Jerome Powell, the owner of the Fed, the American central bank, whose interest rate policy displeases to him. “I’m not happy with him. I let him know and if I want him to leave, he will leave quickly, believe me, “said the president.
-Relations between Giorgia Meloni and Donald Trump, who share a large ideological base, on immigration in particular, are deemed to be very good. The Prime Minister, described as “fantastic leader” by the Republican, had been the only leader of the EU guest to her inauguration in January.
“My goal is to make its greatness to the West, and I think you can do it together,” she said on Thursday in reference to Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Stressing this “very special relationship”, senior US officials have estimated that Giorgia Meloni could serve as an intermediary for an agreement between Europe and the United States.
“I am aware of what I represent and I am aware of what I defend,” she said on Tuesday evening on the sidelines of a ceremony in front of business leaders.
“We are open, we are available, we are ready to conclude agreements with countries that take this seriously. We hope that Italy and the EU will be part of it, “said a Trump administration official to journalists before the meeting.
Rider only
President Donald Trump imposed customs duties of at least 10 % on all products entering the United States, in force since April 5, and up to 145 % on Chinese products, beyond existing taxes before his return to the White House.
Dependent on the exports of its industry, which weighs almost a quarter of its GDP, Giorgia Meloni criticized this price offensive while playing dialogue and urging Brussels not to take retaliatory measures.
Her step of two with Donald Trump worries his European partners, like the French Minister of Industry, Marc Ferracci, who said they feared, when Giorgia Meloni’s visit to Washington, which she does not go alone.
However, a spokesperson for the European Commission described the initiative of Giorgia Meloni as “welcome” and coordinated with Brussels.
If the two leaders share a good number of positions, Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni are less in tune on Ukraine, which Rome has always ardently defended.
Donald Trump, who has been spectacularly closer to Vladimir Putin since his return to power and whose meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had turned to the confrontation at the end of February, certainly declared that he was not “responsible” for the war in Ukraine. But “I believe that he did not do the best job in the world. I’m not a big fan, “he criticized him once again in the process.
With the Canadian press
