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Trump called Russia and the EU trade "enemies" of the United States
MOSCOW, July 15 (Itar-Tass) - RIA Novosti. The European Union is among the "opponents" of the United States, Donald Trump said on the air of the transfer of the the Nation. A fragment of the interview was published in the Twitter program.
"I think the European Union is our enemy, given how they behave in relation to trade," the US president said. According to Trump, opponents of the United States are also Russia - "in certain aspects", and China - "from the point of view of the economy."
"This does not mean that they are bad, nothing of the kind, which means that they are competitive," the American leader said.
Earlier, Trump stated that "the European Union is probably as bad as China." According to him, the EU member states are arranging "terrible things" for the United States. The president also recalled that the trade surplus of the European Union with the United States exceeds 150 billion dollars a year.
Relations between Washington and Brussels noticeably cooled against the backdrop of Trump's decision to impose increased duties on imports of steel and aluminum products. In response, EU countries opened a dispute in the WTO with the United States on these tariffs. In addition, a 25% return fee was introduced for the import of a number of American goods into the EU.
In June, Trump threatened on Twitter that Washington would impose import duties of 20 percent on cars from the EU. He also instructed the Minister of Commerce of the country, Wilbor Ross, to initiate an investigation into whether the import of US national security vehicles is threatening and whether it should be taxed.
In Brussels, commenting on the threats of the American leader, noted that the US economy, in the event of the introduction of new duties, may suffer damage, including possible countermeasures by trading partners. Trade restrictions on the part of the United States could lead to an export response of about $ 294 billion, or about 19 percent of total US exports in 2017.
