<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on Monday that the European Union is “prepared to defend the interests of the single market” in the event that US President Donald Trump decides to raise tariffs on aluminum and steel to 25 percent.</strong></h4> Trump announced on Sunday that he would impose tariffs of 25% on steel and aluminum entering the United States, a measure he already took during his first term in office to protect his country’s industry in those areas. This tariff will affect all countries that export both aluminum and steel to the US, so it will also impact Europe and Spain, which export part of their steel and aluminum to the other side of the Atlantic. This decision will also have its repercussions on the European stock markets that are starting their weekly trading session today. “It is difficult to comment on what is, for the moment, a mere announcement,” Albares told reporters from Barajas Airport in Madrid, where he attended a delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The European Commission has not yet received an “official communication” and, therefore, “we have to see the details and, if it is confirmed, how it is confirmed,” he added, quoted by news agencies. In any case, he said, “the European Union, of course, is prepared for any eventuality and to defend the interests of the European Union and the single market.” According to Albares, the EU and the US maintain a “mutually beneficial” trade relationship, since the United States is the first client and the first investor for the EU and vice versa. For that reason, he said, the EU is interested in “that trade relationship being maintained.” In this regard, the European Commission assured on Monday that it has not yet received “any official notification on the imposition of additional tariffs on EU products” and, therefore, it will not yet respond to “announcements without details or without written clarifications.” “The EU sees no justification for the imposition of tariffs on its exports. We will react to protect the interests of European companies, workers and consumers against unjustified measures,” declared the Commission. France has been the first EU member state to speak out against Trump's announcement and has demanded that the Commission impose tariffs on American products immediately. “Trump already imposed these tariffs in 2018 and then we responded. Now we will respond again,” declared Jean-Noel Barrot, French Minister of Foreign Affairs. Barrot added that it will be up to the European Commission to decide which products to impose these tariffs on and denied that he wants to start a trade war. Brussels “told us that it was ready to (respond) when the time came and the time has come,” said the French minister. “There is no need to have the slightest doubt when our interests are damaged,” added Barrot.
