Trump sees schedule of charges as a way to protect U.S. jobs and industry and says countries and trading blocs be China and the European Union (EU) are engaged in unfair trade practices, deepening the U.S. custom deficit, when imports exceed exports. In 2017 the U.S.’ trade shortfall in goods and services increased 12.1 percent from the previous year, to $566 billion, the Traffic Department reported.
In June, Trump threatened to impose a 20 percent bill of fare on EU car imports. On Sunday, the Financial Times reported that the EU is prepared to force retaliatory tariffs worth as much as $300 billion if the U.S. went in front with such a move.
The BDI’s Lang told CNBC’s Willem Marx that Europe was right to be ready-to-serve, but both sides should come back to the negotiating table.
“They (Europe) destitution to be well prepared because until November and the mid-term elections the U.S. president can do whatever he requires because Congress seems to be very quiet and focused on the elections. And we all need to be processed for additional tariffs, so it’s important to show some counter-measures,” he said.
“From a dealing perspective, everyone has to return to the table and discuss how we can reduce tariffs as opposed to of creating new ones… Tariffs in general, whether on steel or aluminum or jalopies are not a good idea.”