European leaders warned on Monday that US President Donald Trump's threat to extend tariffs on the EU risks triggering a trade war that will hurt consumers.
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said that if the US and Europe start a trade war, "the winner will be China".
"We are very interconnected. We need America, and America needs us," she said before an informal meeting of EU leaders in Brussels.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called for Western unity given the challenges facing both sides.
"We must do everything possible to ensure that in the face of a Russian threat or Chinese expansion, we do not fight each other," Tusk told reporters in Warsaw.
President Trump told the 27 European Union countries that they are next in line after he imposed massive tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Antonio Costa, the President of the European Council, to inform him of Canada's reaction to the tariffs, an EU official said. Canada has responded by imposing retaliatory tariffs and said it would legally challenge the 25% tariff.
Germany’s conservative opposition leader, Friedrich Merz, said on Sunday night that the tariffs risked having a negative impact on the US itself.
“Trump will now realise that the tariffs he imposes will not be paid by those who import to America. Instead, they will be paid by consumers in America,” said Merz, who is expected to become Germany’s leader after elections this month.
France’s central bank governor, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, called Trump’s tariffs “deeply inappropriate” and said the auto sector would be hit hard.
“Everyone loses in this kind of protectionist trade war,” he told France Info radio.
European carmakers’ shares fell on Monday on concerns about the impact of the tariffs.
In his complaints about the trade balance with the EU, Trump focused only on trade in goods.
The EU has consistently exported more goods to the US than it imported, with the US goods trade deficit standing at 155.8 billion euros ($159.5 billion) in 2023, according to Eurostat data.
However, in the services sector, the US had a surplus of exports over imports with the EU of 104 billion euros in 2023, according to Eurostat.
