European leaders are asserting that President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs against the European Union will force member states to fight back until the United States respects their economic power.
White House officials announced earlier this week that a slew of heavy tariffs would be implemented against the EU, citing a $300 billion deficit in trade. The proposal sparked outrage from world leaders on the continent, who claim it could be a make-or-break moment for a unified European front.
“If our commercial interests are attacked, Europe, as a true power, will have to make itself respected and therefore react,” French President Emmanuel Macron told other European leaders during a Monday meeting in Brussels.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz echoed that sentiment, though clarifying that both the U.S. and Europe "benefit from the exchange of goods and services" and that a trade war was undesirable for both sides.
"If customs policy now makes [trade] difficult, it would be bad for the USA and bad for Europe," Scholz said in Brussels. "It is clear that as a strong economic area, we can organize things ourselves and can also react to customs policies with customs policies. That is what we must and will do. But the perspective and the goal should be that we proceed in such a way that it amounts to cooperation."
A spokesperson for the European Commission said Sunday that the EU would "respond firmly to any trading partner that unfairly or arbitrarily imposes tariffs on EU goods."
Trump has alluded to leaving the United Kingdom out of the crossfire with Europe, telling reporters this week that while "the U.K. is way out of line," the European Union "is really out of line" and must be addressed.
"The U.K. is out of line, but I think that one can be worked out," the president mused. "But the European Union, it's an atrocity what they've done."
He described British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as having been "very nice" in conversations since his inauguration and said it was possible for the U.S. and U.K. to smooth out a deal bilaterally.
"We've had a couple of meetings," Trump said. "We've had numerous phone calls. We're getting along very well. We'll see whether or not we can balance out our budget."
Starmer has sought to walk the tightrope between the U.S. and Europe, assuring the public that "both of these relations are very important" to the U.K.
"We are not choosing between them, but that's historically been the position of the U.K. for many, many decades," Starmer said.
The Trump administration has been using the threat of tariffs to wage a soft war on countries the president feels have mistreated the U.S. in recent years — with much success.
Trump negotiated a massive increase to military security on the southern border by threatening Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum with similar tariffs and used a similar tactic to force Colombian President Gustavo Petro to take back deported migrants.
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Threats of economic punishment have also been leveled at Canada unless the U.S.'s northern neighbor works to curb the influx of fentanyl Trump claims is pouring in from the nations' shared border.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on the phone multiple times with Trump on Monday in a bid to negotiate an alternative path forward.