The European Union wants to propose to Donald Trump that it invest more in its defense but in exchange asks him not to launch a trade war, declared Monday Stéphane Séjourné, vice-president of the European Commission, responsible for industrial strategy.
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“We cannot have a trade war and at the same time build defense Europe,” he said on France Inter.
“The agreement with the United States is yes for a disengagement” from European defense “and to build European security guarantees in addition to NATO, but we cannot do it with a trade war to our doors. And national budgets are not capable of increasing the defense budget to 3% (of GDP) everywhere,” he said.
“We will not be able to organize ourselves effectively, particularly on the Eastern Front, if we also have a trade war which costs us enormously,” insisted Stéphane Séjourné, referring to aid to Ukraine. .
To the question of a European response “by force” to a trade war, the European Commissioner reacted cautiously: “I cannot answer you”. Europeans themselves would suffer in the event of increased customs duties on American products and “the trade balance with the United States is very favorable to Europeans,” he stressed.
“There are two possible strategies, an offensive approach or a defensive approach. We can have a response on customs duties but the Europeans will pay for it,” he continued, taking the case of European companies which buy spare parts from Boeing.
“We must be offensive and perhaps even be radical if necessary,” he nevertheless said.
-He also mentioned a “defensive approach which consists of redirecting a certain number of purchases in the world”, for example “suspending supplies of LNG (liquefied natural gas) to Azerbaijan to buy more from the Americans”.
“The whole world is dependent on what Donald Trump does tonight. A certain number of decrees will be issued. And I think that neither the Canadians, nor the Mexicans, nor us, nor the rest of the world, know exactly what is in these decrees,” he concluded.
Donald Trump plans in particular to impose, from January 20, customs duties of 25% on all products coming from Mexico and Canada. China could also see its taxes increase by 10% and the euro zone is also in its sights.
Finally, questioned about “the bureaucracy” in Brussels, Mr. Séjourné mentioned “announcements” which would be made “from February 26, on a simplification shock which will be massive”.
“We are keeping the climate objectives in particular, but we are changing the route for companies to get there, with an elimination of the report: we are going to change a lot of things in the bureaucracy,” he promised, without further details.
The decisions on these announcements are still under discussion, but the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen had already promised, during the European summit in Budapest at the beginning of November, an “omnibus law” to review “what seems excessive” in the form texts with a societal aim, such as the CSRD directive, which provides for the extra-financial reporting of companies, or the CS3D.
“But (their) content is good, we will maintain it,” she assured.
