The top of Belgium’s know-how federation, Agoria, has warned that new US import tariffs of 30 per cent on the EU can be “an financial catastrophe” for the nation’s trade.
“Nothing wanting an financial catastrophe threatens the (know-how) trade in Belgium if there isn’t any higher, negotiated deal between Europe and the US by 1 August,” Bart Steukers mentioned on Sunday.
US president Donald Trump introduced on Saturday that he would impose 30 per cent tariffs on the EU, efficient from 1 August. Steukers referred to as on Belgian and European leaders to reply “rationally and intelligently” to the menace, “with out escalating the battle”, whereas different alternatives outdoors the US.
As an example, he needs to see work executed on a smoother single market. “The IMF calls present commerce boundaries and market distortions inside the EU equal to a 44 per cent import tariff on items and 110 per cent on companies,” he mentioned. “There may be due to this fact appreciable potential for eradicating these inner boundaries.”
The EU additionally must finalise offers with different markets rapidly, he mentioned. “There are a number of different commerce agreements on the desk. These which are round, with Mercosur, Mexico and Chile, should be concluded at once. Belgium has nonetheless not absolutely ratified CETA with Canada. And negotiations with Australia, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia also needs to be finalised as quickly as potential.”
“Nothing wanting an financial catastrophe threatens the (know-how) trade in Belgium if there isn’t any higher, negotiated deal by 1 August”
Earlier, International minister Maxime Prévot hit out on the new tariffs, calling it “a lose-lose state of affairs”. “The US’s commerce aggression in opposition to its European allies is unjustified and a supply of what buyers worry most: uncertainty, insecurity and fragility,” he posted on X.
European Council president Antonio Costa additionally responded to the tariffs on Saturday.
“Tariffs are taxes. They gas inflation, create uncertainty and hinder financial progress,” he mentioned on X. “We’ll proceed to construct sturdy commerce partnerships worldwide. The EU stays agency, united and able to defend our pursuits, in full assist of President @vonderleyen and the Fee’s efforts to succeed in a good settlement with the US.”
Illustration © PHOTO HANS LUCAS COLLECTION
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