Former EU commissioners Jutta Urpilainen and Olli Rehn believe that the EU can still come to an agreement with the US Donald Trump, who is threatening Europe with high tariffs.
5.12. 22:46•Updated 5.12. 22:57
The EU is trying to avoid a trade war by negotiating with Trump, says the EU commissioner who has just finished his term Jutta Urpilainen (sd.)
– Let’s try to make a deal with a man who wants to make deals, Urpilainen describes the EU’s primary option.
President of the United States in January Donald Trump has said that he will introduce 10-20 percent tariffs on foreign products.
A trade war caused by this would be poison for Finland, among other things, because the Finnish economy is so dependent on international trade.
The EU has a strong backbone in the negotiations with Trump
But does Trump want to negotiate a deal with the EU?
It may be that Trump wants to make agreements with individual member states instead of the EU, says the Governor of the Bank of Finland and ex-commissioner who represented the center Olli Rehn.
Rehn states that issues related to trade policy mainly belong to the EU and therefore Trump does not negotiate trade policy with individual member states but with the EU.
– This gives us a pretty strong back in the negotiations with Trump.
However, if an agreement is not reached, but for example the tariffs planned by Trump are implemented, the EU must be ready to impose counter-tariffs, reminds Urpilainen.
– We are also preparing for that.
Europe is facing serious challenges both in the field of economy and security. Does the EU have the ability to respond to problems when its own unity is shaken? Watch the whole evening’s A-Talk on Areena.