US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday threatened the European Union with customs taxes if it does not buy more oil and gas from the United States. This is a way for him to achieve a rebalancing of the trade balance. The European Commission responded that it was ready to discuss with the future tenant of the White House.
With Donald Trump, every day is enough for its share of threats. This Friday, the American president-elect warned Europe that it could be exposed to an increase in customs duties if it does not buy more oil and gas from the United States. “I told the European Union that it must make up its huge deficit with the United States by purchasing our oil and gas on a large scale,” he first wrote on his social network Truth Social . Then added: “Otherwise, customs duties apply”. This is clear.
Donald Trump attacks Canada, Mexico and China
Easily elected on November 5 against Kamala Harris, Donald Trump will be inaugurated on January 20. But, he did not wait to approach this date to threaten the entire Earth. The Republican leader has already warned that he will impose tariffs on three of the United States' main trading partners: Canada, Mexico and China. He accuses his Canadian and Mexican neighbors of flooding his country with drugs and illegal migrants. To punish them, he plans a 25% increase in customs tariffs on their imports. As for China, America's great economic rival, he is concocting a 10% increase for the moment.
A substantial trade surplus on both sides
For Europe, he has not yet made a real decision. But his threat this Friday seems more than clear. By making such a declaration, Donald Trump would like to force the Old Continent to rebalance the trade balance with the United States. Indeed, imports of goods from the EU amounted to $553.3 billion in 2022, while exports from the United States to the Twenty-Seven represented $350.8 billion. What Washington fails to say, however, is that the United States itself has a substantial trade surplus when it comes to trade in services.
The European Commission ready to discuss
Regardless, the European Commission said it was ready to discuss with the president-elect how to strengthen historically strong relations, notably in the energy sector. It has already committed to phasing out energy imports from Russia and diversifying its sources of supply. According to data from statistical office Eurostat, the United States supplied 47% of the EU's liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and 17% of oil imports in the first quarter of 2024.
Donald Trump bluff-t-the ?
This year, US crude exports to Europe reached more than two million barrels per day (bpd). Which represents more than half of total US exports, with the rest going to Asia. The largest importers of American crude are the Netherlands, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Sweden. Some analysts say Trump's threats are either bragging or pressure tactics for future trade negotiations when he takes office. But we can't guarantee anything with him. The former real estate mogul has already shown that he is unpredictable.
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