erman Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil on Sunday urged “serious negotiations” with the United States after President Donald Trump threatened to bring in 50-percent tariffs on imports from the European Union.
Trump made the threat on Friday, saying “discussions [with the EU] are going nowhere” and adding that the tariffs would be applied from June 1 — just a week away.
If imposed, they would dramatically raise Washington’s current baseline levy of 10 percent, and fuel simmering tensions between two of the world’s economic heavyweights.
Klingbeil told the Bild newspaper that “we don’t need any further provocations, but serious negotiations” and added that he had spoken with his US counterpart Scott Bessent about the matter.
Trump said on Friday that he is “not looking for a deal”, repeating his long-standing view that the EU — conceived to seal postwar peace in Europe — “banded together to take advantage of us”.
Klingbeil said that “the US tariffs endanger the US economy just as much as the German and European economy”.
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Stock markets fell in the wake of Trump’s comments amid fears of renewed global economic disruption. The US dollar also took a beating.
The EU’s trade chief Maros Sefcovic reacted to Trump by saying the bloc was “committed to securing a deal that works for both” and that trade relations “must be guided by mutual respect, not threats”.
Klingbeil reiterated Germany’s support for the EU in handling the talks with the US.
“We as Europeans are united and determined to represent our interests,” he said.