What will be the effect of the EU's response to Trump's tariffs?

CGTN Europe

CGTN Europe interviewed Marco Forgione, Director General of the Chartered Institute of Export and International Trade.

Transcript

00:00Let's talk now to Marco Forgione, who's Director General of the Chartered Institute of Export

00:04and International Trade.

00:05Good to see you again, Marco.

00:07Welcome back to the program.

00:09Lots going on in the world of tariffs, but let's talk about the EU's response to what

00:13President Trump has in mind.

00:15What effect will that have, do you think?

00:18I think it's part of a bargaining chip that the EU is laying down.

00:23I think they're very keen to open up a negotiation and find a route to a settlement.

00:29If you recall, very soon after President von der Leyen was appointed, she announced

00:37that the EU would shift its purchasing of liquefied natural gas from Russia to the US

00:43in an attempt to bridge the issues with the US.

00:48And Maros Sefcovic recently announced that the tariff on US cars into the EU would be

00:54reviewed.

00:55So I think there's a real ambition to broker a deal, but undoubtedly there is a very real

01:02risk that this tariff, tit-for-tat, is going to escalate.

01:06So US tariffs on aluminium and steel already coming into effect.

01:12What kind of impact will that have, do you think, on businesses and customers?

01:17Well, it's going to have a definite impact.

01:21The UK still have suggested that their customers are going to feel a £100 million hit.

01:29That's going to impact on jobs here in the UK and businesses here in the UK.

01:35I have to say, I really think that the UK government have done exactly the right thing.

01:40This is a time for cool heads and a route to try and negotiate through.

01:46Because President Trump and the new administration in the US are using tariffs not just as a

01:52trade tool, but as a strategic implement to address their America First ambitions and

02:01to very consciously unpick the traditional multilateral administrative system under which

02:08the world is operated.

02:10So this is much more significant than just trade.

02:13So is there anything, do you think, that the international community can do about this

02:17to intervene?

02:18The World Trade Organization, for example?

02:21No, President Trump is very much not keen on working through the WTO.

02:27He is looking for bilateral negotiations to secure deals.

02:31You can see that with what he's doing with Mexico, with Canada, and now with the EU and

02:37with the UK.

02:38So this is about point-to-point, nation-to-nation negotiations to reach deals and agreements.

02:43You mentioned the threat of job losses, perhaps price rises.

02:47What might we see all these tariffs end up doing to the global economy?

02:52I think it's going to be very destabilizing to the global economy and where there's uncertainty,

02:57the reality is that puts pressure on prices, that puts pressure on supply, at a point where

03:02the global supply chain is already vulnerable.

03:06So I think we're in a period of significant economic instability now.

03:12But what that actually means for the UK is that there's a huge potential for the UK to

03:16act as a bridge and to secure a much better trading relationship with the US and address

03:24the friction that exists with regards to trade with the EU.

03:28So I think there's a lot of hard work to do, but the UK could play a really important role

03:35as a central influencer on these two huge trading nations, trading blocs, the US and the EU.

03:42Marco, good to talk to you.

03:44Thank you for joining us.

03:45That's Marco Forgione, Director General of the Chartered Institute of Export and International Trade.

Category

Transcript

Recommended