EU officials to meet Trump, wielding a $20-billion threat
HELSINKI — Top European Union officials were going into a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday warning they are ready to put tariffs on $20 billion of American goods if he puts duties on car imports.
EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom will meet Trump in Washington to try to talk him out of imposing the auto tariffs, which would hurt the industry on both sides of the Atlantic and ratchet up trade tensions significantly.
“The aim of this visit is to cool down the situation and prevent an escalation of the trade conflict,” Malmstrom told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter in an interview.
But she noted that if the U.S. proceeds with the duties, the EU is ready to respond. It will impose new tariffs on a range of U.S. products, including agricultural and high-tech products and machinery.