US President Donald Trump on Sunday said the sweeping tariffs that he has imposed on Mexico, Canada and China might cause “short-term” pain for Americans, as concerns the levies would spark an economically damaging trade war rise.
Trump added that he would talk yesterday with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, which have announced retaliatory tariffs of their own, but downplayed expectations that they would change his mind.
“I don’t expect anything dramatic,” Trump told reporters as he returned to Washington from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “They owe us a lot of money, and I’m sure they’re going to pay.”
Photo: Bloomberg
The tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, outlined in three executive orders, are due to take effect at 12:01am today.
“We may have short term some little pain, and people understand that. But long term, the United States has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world,” he said.
He also said tariffs on the EU would go ahead, but did not say when.
“It will definitely happen with the European Union. I can tell you that because they’ve really taken advantage of us,” Trump told reporters on Sunday.
EU leaders meeting in Brussels yesterday warned there would be no winners in a trade war, saying they would hit back if Trump imposes tariffs.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU must show its muscle if Trump makes good on his threat to target the bloc with a volley of tariffs.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, said that everything must be done to avoid a “totally unnecessary and stupid” trade war.
Asked about Britain and whether it would face tariffs next, Trump told reporters: “We’ll see how things work out. It might happen with them, but it will definitely happen with the European Union, I can tell you that.”
“The UK is way out of line. We’ll see ... but the European Union is really out of line. The UK is out of line, but I think that one can be worked out. But the European Union is an atrocity, what they’ve done,” he said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said a trade dispute would be “bad for the US, bad for Europe,” with transatlantic “cooperation” preferable for both sides.
“We can also react,” he added, veering from Germany’s traditionally cautious approach to transatlantic trade relations.
The tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, outlined in three executive orders, are due to take effect at 12:01am today.
“We may have short term some little pain, and people understand that. But long term, the United States has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world,” he said.
Asked about Britain and whether it would face tariffs next, Trump told reporters: “We’ll see how things work out. It might happen with them, but it will definitely happen with the European Union, I can tell you that.”
“The UK is way out of line. We’ll see ... but the European Union is really out of line. The UK is out of line, but I think that one can be worked out. But the European Union is an atrocity, what they’ve done,” he said.
He said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had “been very nice. We’ve had a couple of meetings, we’ve had numerous phone calls. We’re getting along very well. We’ll see whether or not we can balance out our budget.”
A British government spokesperson said the US was an indispensable ally and close trading partner.
“We have a fair and balanced trading relationship which benefits both sides of the Atlantic,” the spokesperson said.
“We look forward to working closely with President Trump to continue to build on UK-US trading relations for our economy, businesses and the British people.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said a trade dispute would be “bad for the US, bad for Europe,” with transatlantic “cooperation” preferable for both sides.
“We can also react,” he added, veering from Germany’s traditionally cautious approach to transatlantic trade relations.
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