Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said the EU-US trade was “in a tough stop” but he hoped the EU and EU would “sooner or later” end up at a negotiation table, as he hoped for a negotiated solution to prolonging uncertainty surrounding US president Donald Trump’s tariffs (16:18).
But the Slovak politician admitted that “until now, despite of efforts … we haven’t seen the real engagement which would lead to the mutually acceptable solution” from the US side (16:12), as he warned that the Trump administration seemed to be determined to send an ideological signal to markets (16:30).
Šefčovič also spoke about a “clear difference of opinion” on figures in EU-US trade, arguing it it is wrong to look at trade in goods in isolation, without services, mutual investment, and other instruments.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen earlier said that “Europe is always ready for good deal,” but signaled the bloc was “also prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests” (15:00).
Outgoing German economy minister Robert Habeck offered a brutal takedown of the US tariffs, saying the underlying calculations were “nonsense,” and “wrong,” as he urged US to “stop the nonsense … the mess you have made in the last week” (11:12).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
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Global effects of US tariffs 'could be profound,' UK's Starmer says
British prime minister Keir Starmer spoke about US tariffs this afternoon too, warning that global consequences of Trump’s move “could be profound.”
Nobody is pretending that tariffs are good news. You know that better than anyone – 25% tariffs on automotive exports and 10% on other goods, that is a huge challenge for our future, and the global economic consequences could be profound.
Starmer said we live in a new era, where the old assumptions don’t apply any more, that he calls the age of insecurity.
For more on his comments and the UK’s plans, see Andrew Sparrow’s UK live blog here:
