US President has warned the European Union of possible retaliatory measures if the bloc proceeds with a proposal to make its first associate member, Reuters reported.
Speaking to reporters while travelling to an event in North Carolina, Trump said the could face “very serious tariffs” or restrictions on trade with the US if he considered the move hostile.
“If they do that, if I think it’s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things,” Trump said, describing the proposal as “laughable”.
Trump added that the US response would depend on the EU’s intentions. If the move was made with “bad intention”, he said Washington would impose “very heavy tariffs” on Europe, while a move made with a “good intention” would not prompt such action.
France’s Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad pushed back against Trump’s warning on Thursday, saying Washington had no authority over the EU’s geopolitical decisions.
“It is not up to the United States — or anyone else — to choose the political and geopolitical direction of the Europeans,” Haddad said in an interview with French television channel Public Senat.
He said the EU had an existing relationship with Canada and was entitled to strengthen those ties.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the associate membership proposal on Wednesday during her annual State of the Union speech. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attended the address as von der Leyen called for closer cooperation among allies in what she described as “an openly hostile world”.
The proposal comes as the EU faces security concerns linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while both Europe and Canada have been dealing with trade tensions with the US and a more assertive China.
Carney had said earlier this month that he was pursuing a “unique alliance” with the EU as relations between Ottawa and Washington have worsened since Trump’s return to the White House.
The tensions have resulted in tariffs affecting tens of billions of dollars in trade across the US-Canada border.
The EU has traditionally been reluctant to pursue flexible alliances that lack a formal legal status. One EU diplomat said the proposal had come as a surprise, noting that “nobody really knows what it means”.
Carney is scheduled to address the European Parliament on Thursday morning.
