Trade conflict
To customize Trump: I am open to discussions
Donald Trump shocked trading partners around the world with a huge customs package. Now he signals willingness to talk – but only if other countries are ready to concessions.
US President Donald Trump is ready to talk to trading partners with trading partners on imports to imports to the USA under certain conditions. “I would like to solve the deficit problem that we have with China, the European Union and other countries,” Trump said on a return flight from the state of Florida to the US capital Washington. “If you want to talk about it, I’m open to discussions.”
Trump said he spoke to many leading politicians from Europe, Asia and the whole world at the weekend. “They burn on making a deal.” However, he had emphasized that he was no longer willing to accept trade deficits – i.e. imbalances in the commercial volume, in which a country exports significantly more to the USA than imported from there. There must either be a trade surplus for the US side or a balanced result in mutual trade, he demands.
With a view to China, the US President said there was a huge trade deficit towards the People’s Republic. “Hundreds of billions of dollars are lost with China every year. And if we don’t solve this problem, I won’t do a deal.” Trump emphasized: “I am ready to negotiate with China, but you have to reduce your surplus.”
Serious allegations against Europe
Trump once again complained bitterly on the trade with European countries, which also had an enormous surplus towards the United States. They had “treated very, very badly” and thus made a fortune, the Republican claimed. “The European Union was founded for a single reason: (…) to rip off the United States.”
With a view to the turbulence on the stock exchanges after the announcement of his customs package, Trump said that he did not want the markets down. “But sometimes you have to take medication to get something in order.”
A few days ago, the US President had presented a huge customs package that should significantly change the structure of the global economy. In a first step, new flat -rate tariffs of ten percent took effect on imports from almost all countries in the USA. On Wednesday, a complex mechanism will follow in a next step, which provides even higher tariffs for countries with which the United States have a particularly large trade deficit. With his customs policy, Trump wants to strengthen the production site USA, among other things, but also lead other countries to reduce its own trade barriers for imports from the USA.
dpa
Source: Stern
