US President Donald Trump is dragging the world into an open trade war by announcing massive import tariffs. This is stated in a statement by the head of the Federal Association of German Foreign Trade and Wholesale Trade (BGA) Dirk Jandura.
„This is a direct attack on world trade. By sharply increasing tariffs on more than 100 trading partners, the US president is throwing the world into an open trade war," he said. "I assume that the conflict will significantly weaken the pace of our economic growth," added Jandura.
"Our goal should be to quickly end this trade war, but we also need to show that Europe cannot be blackmailed," the association's head stressed, noting that actions should be coordinated with other "affected countries." "New free trade agreements will contribute to achieving independence from the United States," Jandura said.
For its part, the Association of the German Automotive Industry (VDA) said that the US tariffs were "a challenge for both companies and global supply chains in the automotive industry." “It is already clear that such a development will have negative consequences for economic growth“, said VDA head Hildegard Müller.
On April 2, Trump announced that the US government would impose tariffs on imports from many countries and a rate of 20% would be applied to the EU.
Source: tass.ru