The European Union is set to face a “bumpy road” over the next four years with Donald Trump returning to the White House in the United States, a former EU trade commissioner has said.
US president-elect Trump has promised to impose tariffs of between 10-20 per cent on all goods coming into the US from Europe and elsewhere, as well as indicating he would end the Ukraine war, possibly by threatening to withdraw military and financial support for Kyiv.
Cecilia Malmstrom, who served as European commissioner for trade from 2014 to 2019, said she felt Mr Trump would certainly move ahead with the threatened tariffs. Small open economies, such as Ireland, would be hit harder as big exporters to the US, she said.
Ms Malmstrom was EU trade commissioner during Mr Trump’s first term, when he introduced tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from the EU, which drew retaliatory measures from Brussels.
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The former Swedish politician said the EU was in for a “Trumpian few years”, given the Republicans were set to control the Senate and possibly the House of Representatives. “He is very angry with Europe ... He is also surrounded by a new kind of Maga supporter, the adults in the room seem to be gone,” she said.
The commission, the executive arm of the EU responsible for trade, needed to signal it was ready to “strike back” quickly if Mr Trump levelled tariffs on imports, she said. However, the greater fear was what would happen if the US withdrew support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, which Ms Malmstrom said would create an “existential threat to Europe”.
Leaders across the EU issued statements congratulating Mr Trump on his election in the United States. In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, French president Emmanuel Macron told Mr Trump he was “ready to work together as we did for four years. With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity”.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz also congratulated Mr Trump. “For a long time, Germany and the US have been working together successfully promoting prosperity and freedom on both sides of the Atlantic. We will continue to do so for the wellbeing of our citizens,” he said.
Mr Macron and Mr Scholz spoke on the phone on Wednesday morning, where the French president said they discussed the need for “a more united, stronger, more sovereign Europe in this new context”.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said she looked forward to working with Mr Trump to “advance a strong transatlantic agenda”. The US and EU had a bond that was “rooted in our shared history, commitment to freedom and democracy, and common goals of security and opportunity for all”, she said. Millions of jobs and billions in trade on both sides of the Atlantic depended on the “stability of our economic relationship”, she said.
Giorgia Meloni, the populist right-wing Italian prime minister, offered her “most sincere congratulations” to Mr Trump. Far-right Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban described Mr Trump’s election as a “much needed victory for the world”.
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