COPENHAGEN
Denmark is ready to defend its interests in the event of a possible trade war with the United States, the country's foreign minister said on Friday.
"Denmark and the rest of the EU are ready to defend their interests in a possible trade war with the US," reported state news media outlet DR, citing Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen. However, he added: "The EU wants, first and foremost, to pursue dialogue and negotiate a solution."
Rasmussen further emphasized that while the EU is committed to negotiating a solution if possible, it is also prepared to defend its interests with robust and proportional responses if necessary.
This statement came in response to US President Donald Trump’s remarks, where he stated that tariff discussions with the EU "are going nowhere" and suggested a 50% tariff against the EU, effective June 1.
"The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on trade, has been very difficult to deal with," Trump said on social media.
He criticized the EU's "powerful trade barriers, VAT taxes, ridiculous corporate penalties, non-monetary trade barriers, monetary manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against American companies, and more," arguing that these have resulted in a trade deficit with the US of more than $250 billion a year, which he called "totally unacceptable."
On April 2, the EU was subjected to a 20% tariff rate.
Trump later suspended these tariffs for every country except China. But China’s tariffs were also suspended after talks in Geneva earlier this month.
The US president has been actively seeking trade deals with other countries, having reached a trade agreement with the UK earlier this month.
