EU Ought to Discuss to USA Earlier than Retaliating on Tariffs, Kukies Says

German Finance Minister Joerg Kukies advised the European Union is likely to be in a greater place if it talks with the US about potential commerce tariffs as a substitute of instantly imposing countermeasures.

“I might say let’s discuss earlier than we take into consideration retaliation,” Kukies mentioned Wednesday in a Bloomberg TV interview on the World Financial Discussion board in Davos, Switzerland. “I wouldn’t need discuss retaliation if there may be nothing but to retaliate to and who is aware of, perhaps the way in which I understood the president’s yesterday there may be additionally scope for discussions.”

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly known as for the EU to purchase extra American oil and fuel if the bloc desires to keep away from tariffs. Brussels, in addition to some Asian governments, are contemplating buying extra vitality from the world’s greatest producer of crude and exporter of liquefied pure fuel. European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen floated the thought final yr that imports from the US may change the bloc’s consumption of Russian LNG.

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“Germany is already importing very, very substantial quantities of oil and fuel from the USA and for us the safety of provide of the transition vitality is extraordinarily necessary,” he mentioned. “Regardless of how coverage is shaped, it’s all the time in our curiosity to be near our greatest ally and to strengthen the transatlantic relationship.”

Trump’s return to the White Home comes at a tough time for Europe’s largest economic system, which shrank for a second consecutive yr in 2024 and is unlikely to develop a lot in 2025. Sluggish demand in key industrial sectors, waning exports to China and excessive vitality costs within the wake of Russia’s struggle towards Ukraine hit the nation laborious.