Alwaght- The European Union is bracing for a major trans-Atlantic trade war after the US President Donald Trump’s fierce remarks against the bloc.
Trump said during a rally that the EU was formed to rip off the US, as he vowed to “take on” the bloc and China, saying that the days of “disastrous trade deals” are over.
the EU has made clear it won’t be intimidated. French President Emmanuel Macron said this month that “we won’t talk about anything while there’s a gun pointed at our head.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she discussed trade disputes with Trump during talks at the White House on Friday and that she failed to win a public commitment to halt the tariffs.
Trump unleashed the tirade at a campaign-style rally in Michigan on Saturday. Taking aim at the EU's trade policies, Trump said that the bloc “was put there to take advantage of the United States.”
“Not anymore, we told them that yesterday, actually the exact same words, not anymore, those days are over,” Trump said to a round of cheers.
The US leader hinted that he would stop at nothing to fix the trade imbalance, warning the crowd that they should expect some temporary setbacks on the way to a bright future for the US economy.
“In short term you may have to take some problems, long term – you're going to be so happy, we're going to get it opened up, or we’re not doing business with these other countries,” Trump said.
While blasting the EU, China and Japan over trade, Trump said that his criticism of the “disastrous trade deals,” which he is busy “straightening out,” does not mean he has a personal grudge against those countries' leaders.
“I don’t blame them, I don’t blame the heads of these countries for taking advantage of us, I blame past Presidents and past leaders of our country,” Trump said, adding, "I blame past presidents and past leaders of our country."
