EU warns of retaliation if Trump implements new tariffs

A top official for the European Union warned Sunday that the 28-member bloc would not hesitate to respond in kind if President Trump implemented tariffs on European exporters.

“If European exporters have to pay tariffs, that will become a two-way street. Then U.S. exporters will have to pay tariffs here,” EU budget commissioner Guenther Oettinger told Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper, according to The Associated Press.

{mosads}Oettinger’s comments come after Trump said last week he would consider responding to the EU’s “very unfair” trade policies. 

“I’ve had a lot of problems with the European Union, and it may morph into something very big from that standpoint, from a trade standpoint,” Trump told Piers Morgan in an interview for ITV.

“They’re not the only one, by the way. I could name many countries and places that do. But the European Union has been very, very unfair to the United States. And I think it will turn out to be very much to their detriment,” Trump added.

Trump has frequently railed against what he has deemed unfair trade agreements. Last year, he withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and has threatened to do the same with the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Trump announced last week his administration was imposing tariffs of 30 percent on imported solar panel technology in a bid to protect domestic manufacturers.