Trump tells EU to boost US energy imports or face tariffs

US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened the EU with new tariffs unless the bloc imports more American oil and gas.

"I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil and gas," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday.

"Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!"

According to US government data, the EU is already the biggest buyer of US energy exports.

Trump's plans for tariffs

Trump has pledged to impose hefty tariffs on three of the United States' largest trading partners — Canada, Mexico and China — when he takes office on January 20. Such a wide-ranging move could have major implications for the global economy.

He has also said Europe can expect to pay a price with the goods it exports to the US if it doesn't do more to close the trade gap with Washington.

Last year, the US had a goods trade deficit with the EU of €155.8 billion ($161.9 billion). However, in services, it had a surplus of €104 billion, according to the EU statistics office Eurostat.

Exports from the EU are dominated by Germany, with key goods being cars, machinery and chemicals.

Trump argues that increasing tariffs on goods from other countries would help US companies produce more domestically and create more local jobs.

How did the EU respond to Trump's threat?

The EU is seeking to avoid a trade conflict with the US under Trump's incoming administration.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said Friday it was open to talks with the president-elect about how to strengthen what it described as an already strong relationship.

"The EU is committed to phasing out energy imports from Russia and diversifying our sources of supply," a spokesperson said, while noting that the US also enjoyed "a substantial trade in services surplus vis a vis the EU."

The EU has dramatically increased its purchases of US oil and gas since deciding to cut reliance on Russian energy following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In the first quarter of 2024, the US supplied 47% of the bloc's liquefied natural gas imports and 17% of its oil imports, according to Eurostat data.

nm/kb (Reuters, AP, AFP)