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DAVOS, SWITZERLAND – JANUARY 23: President of the United States of America (USA) Donald Trump, delivers a speech via video conference during the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on January 23, 2025. . (Photo by Halil Sagirkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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US President Donald Trump on Thursday continued to take aim at the European Union for what he says is an unequal trade relationship.
“From America’s point of view, the EU is treating us very, very unfairly, very badly,” Trump said in a virtual address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
After his inauguration on Monday, Trump’s second term has been a key topic of conversation in Davos this year – especially given his threats of trade tariffs on the EU, China, Mexico, Canada and beyond.
Echoing previous comments, Trump said in his Davos address: “It’s very difficult to bring products to Europe, and yet they expect to sell and sell their products in the United States. So we have, you know, hundreds billion dollar deficit with the EU, and no one is happy with it.
Trump in December he said the EU will face “all-round tariffs” unless it increases its purchases of US oil and gas, something European officials have expressed a willingness to do.
He added on Thursday: “They want to be able to compete better, and you can’t compete when you can’t go through the approval process faster. There’s no reason why it can’t go faster… Try. to be constructive, because I like Europe”.
The US is the largest recipient of EU goods, by far nearly a fifth of the bloc’s exports. the United States the largest trade deficit with the EU is in machinery and vehicles, with a total gap of 102 billion euros ($106 billion) in 2023. In energy, Washington had a trade surplus with the European bloc for 70 billion euros; also has a a significant trade surplus in services.
This is a developing story and will be updated soon.
