Heiko Maas, addressing the intensified trade spat between the United States and the EU, warned that Europe will not be “threatened” by Washington and stated that it wanted to find a solution to the dispute via talks.
“It is good that Jean-Claude Juncker will be in Washington tomorrow to talk and to seek a solution but we are not heading to negotiations with a pistol at our chest. I don’t think threats bring us closer to a solution. We in Europe must stick together… I hope that we succeed in resolving this via consensus but we will not be threatened and climb down so easily,” he told German public television.
Maas’ comments came ahead of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s visit to the United States for talks on July 25.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said last week that the negotiations would mainly focus on preventing a further deterioration in relations between Washington and Brussles.
Maas’ remarks echoed French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire’s comments earlier this week when he was quoted as saying that France and Germany agreed Washington needed to take the first step in trade talks by eliminating tariffs.
“We refuse to negotiate with a gun to our head,” he said on the sidenlines of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Buenos Aires.
Speaking to the Funke newspaper last week, Maas said that the EU could “no longer completely rely” on the United States and in order to “maintain our partnership with the USA we must readjust it.”
“We can no longer completely rely on the White House,” he stated, adding, “The first clear consequence can only be that we need to align ourselves even more closely in Europe.”
He further stressed that “Europe must not let itself be divided however sharp the verbal attacks and absurd the tweets may be,” apparently referring to a series of posts on Twitter by President Trump on the escalated trade row.
Last week’s statements were prompted by Trump’s remark when he suggested that the US had “a lot of foes” in an interview with CNS News.
“I think we have a lot of foes. I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now you wouldn’t think of the European Union but they’re a foe,” he said.
Transatlantic relations have deteriorated since President Trump announced his decison to impose 25-percent duties on steel and 10-percent tariffs on aluminum imports in June, having slammed his allies and partners for “taking advantage of the US” in terms of trade. In a tit-for-tat move, the EU slapped tariffs on US goods, from motorbikes to cigarettes, worth 2.8 billion euros ($3.3 billion).