Politics & Economics
The EU “is ready to pragmatically protect its interest” against new US tariffs
By Editorial Staff
The EU Commission is phasing out from the soft line embarked on after Donald Trump’s victory as US President. “The EU is committed to fostering a stable, balanced, and predictable economic and trade partnership with the United States will be pragmatic, but we will also be ready to stand up for our principles, protect our interests, and uphold our values if necessary,” the European Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis told journalist after a meeting of Finance Ministers in Brussels.
The EU top official told a press conference that if needed, the EU Executive is ready “to defend Europe’s economic interests,” as the bloc did during the first Trump administration to counter commercial restrictive measures on steel and aluminum.
In his inauguration-day speech, the US President announced tariffs and taxes on foreign countries to enrich and protect American workers and families. Dombrovskis noted that Trump did not explicitly involve Europe in his plans, which were “contrary to expectations.”
The Commission has taken note of the memorandum that certifies Trump’s interest in opting out of the OECD global tax deal. He announced that he would take measures against the countries that collect a “top-up” tax from US companies paying a lower rate at home.
“We remain committed to our international obligations undertaken over the last years, “Dombrovskis claimed. We trust that it is worth it taking the time to discuss these matters with the new US tax administration in order to better understand their questions and explain our position to summarize,” he added.
“There are lots of at stake even for the United States,” Dombrovskis highlighted while also remarking that further restrictive commercial duties on goods imposed by the US could mean a loss of 7% of the global GPD, the equivalent of German and French economies.
“No other economies in the world are as integrated as the EU and the US”, journalists were told. “The volume of trade between us is worth €1.5 trillion, representing 30% of global trade, 2/3 of all American assets abroad are in Europe, and the US provides over half of our liquified natural gas”, Dombrovskis further stressed. According to him, ministers are aligned to undergo urgent and coordinated policy action aimed at easier access to business funding, reducing administrative burden, removing obstacles to investment, and boosting private and public resources for the digital and green transition and defense spending.
EU Ministers are also keen to see more on the simplification legislative package that the European Commission will present on February 26th. Dombrovskis pointed out that the so-called ‘Omnibus’ package is “basically a legislative technique whereby with one proposal we can open several pieces of legislation.”
The European Commission finds it appropriate to open the legislation already in force with a special reference to the regulation on the ‘taxonomy’ – a sort of classification criteria – of investments labeled as “green”; the 2022 regulation on the “reporting obligations” of companies on their sustainability policies; and the regulation on the “due diligence” of large companies in monitoring their value chains. The final aim is to clear the EU legislation of inconsistencies and overlaps. The Commission also considers opening more pieces of legislation in the future.
“This is just the beginning of our work,” he said. Each member of the Commission is responsible for stressing the existing legislation and coming forward with a proposal, “Dombrovskis told journalists. He informed them that the process would continue in the coming months and years.