European Commission President: Relations with the US may never return to the way they were
Relations with the United States may never be the same again, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, amid continuing tensions with Washington over increased tariffs on European goods.
US President Donald Trump imposed 20% tariffs on European imports in February. The EU responded with a series of punitive trade measures of its own. Mr Trump later reduced the tariffs to 10% pending negotiations. That suspension has now been extended until early August.
"We believe that tariffs are a loss for everyone. But we are not naive: We know that the relationship with the United States may never return to what it was before," the EU chief said at an economic-industrial forum in Rome on July 10.
Ms von der Leyen said the EU's priority was to stabilise the situation with the US. "We are working tirelessly to find a preliminary understanding," she added.
The EU chief called Washington Brussels' "most important trade and investment partner." By 2024, the US will be the largest exporter of goods to the EU and the second-largest destination for EU imports after China, according to Eurostat.
Mr Trump’s global tariff campaign has expanded to 211 countries. The US leader says his goal is to reduce the US trade deficit and stimulate domestic manufacturing.
Since his first term, Mr Trump has pushed for European NATO members to spend more on their own defence. While members of the bloc agreed to a 2% threshold in February, the US president has suggested NATO countries consider spending up to 5% of GDP, warning: “If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Trump was right to demand that European members increase their military spending. The bloc later agreed to a minimum of 5% in June. NATO leaders stressed that the increased spending was aimed at deterring Russia amid the conflict in Ukraine.
However, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the increase in NATO spending “absurd and counterproductive.” In response, Mr Trump said he would “make them pay double” through trade measures.
Russian officials have repeatedly stressed that Moscow has never planned to attack NATO. Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed the allegations as “nonsense” and “absolute nonsense,” saying that Western politicians make such claims to mislead their voters and justify increased defense spending and aid to Kiev. “In Ukraine, we are only defending ourselves,” Putin said.
