EU ‘Was Terrified About the Lack of Awareness of the Americans About Trade Policy’
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday attended a European Union meeting in Brussels on trade, announcing that the “Germans are evil, very evil,” or, “very bad,” according to a translated version of the German news site Der Spiegel.
Trump “complained bitterly about the German trade surplus” during Thursday’s meeting, and said, “Look at the millions of cars they sell in the US, and we’ll stop that.”
Embarrassingly, Der Spiegel reports, “the EU side was terrified about the lack of awareness of the Americans about trade policy. Apparently, it was unclear to the guests that the EU countries concluded trade agreements only jointly.”
In other words, the EU negotiates as a single entity, not as individual nations.Â
Also embarrassing, Der Spiegel notes: “It was actually thought in the EU, after countless meetings of European leaders with Trump and many attempts to explain the international trade policy. This hope may well bury the Europeans.“
This is not the first time President Trump has attacked Germany over trade deficits. Just four days before Trump was sworn in as president, Trump threatened an import tax of 35% on BMWs made in Mexico.
“I would tell BMW if they think they’re gonna build a plant in Mexico and sell cars into the US without a 35 per cent tax, it’s not gonna happen, it’s not gonna happen — so if they want to build cars for the world I would say wish them luck — they can build cars for the US but they’ll be paying a 35 per cent tax on every car that comes into the country.”
His attack was met with a swift response from Germany’s economy minister and vice-chancellor.
“The American car industry is getting worse, weaker and more expensive,â€Â Gabriel told German newspaper Bild. He added, “the U.S. needs to build better cars” if Americans are choosing German cars over American-made autos.
“I believe BMW’s biggest factory is already in the US, in Spartanburg,” South Carolina, Gabriel added, according to The Guardian. “The US car industry would have a bad awakening if all the supply parts that aren’t being built in the US were to suddenly come with a 35% tariff. I believe it would make the US car industry weaker, worse and above all more expensive. I would wait and see what the Congress has to say about that, which is mostly full of people who want the opposite of Trump.”
UPDATE: 5:16 PM EDT –
Der Spiegel’s English Twitter account just posted this, quoting Trump saying, “The Germans are bad, very bad. See the millions of cars they are selling in the U.S. terrible. We will stop this.”
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