© AP/Evan VucciPresident Trump speaking at Davos Forum, Switzerland, January 2020
President Trump said Wednesday the
U.S. will seek a trade deal with the European Union now that he's signed a phase-one deal with China and negotiated with North American partners, reissuing his threat to levy car imports [if] they don't come to the table. Speaking to CNBC, the president said
Europe has taken advantage of the U.S. for too long, so something has to give.Mr. Trump met with Ursula von der Leyen, the new president of the European Commission, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Mr. Trump told CNBC:
"I said, 'Look, we don't get something, I'm going to have to take action,' and the action will be a very high tariff on their cars and other things that come into our country. They're going to make a deal because they have to. They have to. They have no choice."
He said there is no reason for Americans to "get nervous" because he's confident of a deal. "I would be very surprised if I had to implement the tariffs," he said.
Mr. Trump said the
Europeans have in some ways been "tougher than China," but they didn't want to negotiate with past presidents. "But they're gonna negotiate with me," he told reporters in Davos.
Wrapping up his trip, Mr. Trump also complained that large Asian nations take advantage of the World Trade Organization and its rules. He said
the body, which regulates international trade, needs to be reformed. Mr. Trump said at a press conference:
"China's viewed as a developing nation, India is viewed as a developing nation — we're not viewed as a developing nation. As far as I'm concerned, we're a developing nation, too. They got tremendous advantages by the fact that they were considered developing and we weren't. And they shouldn't be. But if they are, we are. We're talking about a whole new structure for the deal, or we'll have to do something."
"The World Trade Organization's been very unfair to the United States for many, many years. Without it, China wouldn't be China. China wouldn't be where they are right now."
In brief remarks,
WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo said all countries will have to work together on reforms. "The WTO has to change," he said. "We are committed to effect those changes."
Comment: Sputnik, 22/1/2020: Zarif's 'told you so' moment:
The three European signatories to the Iran nuclear deal triggered a dispute resolution mechanism last week, a move tantamount to an accusation that Iran is violating its terms, which could eventually lead to the return of UN sanctions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has quipped that the EU's efforts to force Iran back into the nuclear deal have backfired as Donald Trump floated the idea of imposing new tariffs on the bloc.
RT, 22/1/2020: Trade war ignited? UK risks US wrath with digital tax on tech giants
Speaking on a panel - alongside US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin - at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, British Chancellor Sajid Javid doubled down on government plans to implement a two-percent levy on revenues made by global tech giants like Facebook and Twitter in the UK.
"We plan to go ahead with our digital services tax in April. It is a proportionate tax, and a tax that is deliberately designed as a temporary tax." Javid's comments drew the ire of Mnuchin, who hit out at the proposals, branding them "discriminatory" against US companies.
In what was ostensibly a veiled threat aimed at his UK counterpart, the US treasury secretary warned that if his country's digital companies face "arbitrary taxes," then in response they would "consider putting arbitrary taxes on their car companies."
Comment: Sputnik, 22/1/2020: Zarif's 'told you so' moment: RT, 22/1/2020: Trade war ignited? UK risks US wrath with digital tax on tech giants