Listen I like foreigners as much as the next guy but I can't stand the French. They literally let what's his face just march right in there and don't get me started about the Third Reich. F-ck Germany.
Trump to Europe: Buy more U.S. oil and gas or face 'TARIFFS all the way!!!'
The president-elect is again using tariffs as a threat against a major trade partner
By William Gavin, Quartz Media
PublishedFriday 9:47AM
In an overnight post on his social media network Truth Social, Trump said he told the European Union that it must lessen “their tremendous deficit with the United States” by buying more oil and gas.
“Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!” he added in the 1 a.m. post.
According to the United States Trade Representative, the country’s goods and services trade deficit with the E.U. was $131.3 billion in 2022. Much of the U.S.’s oil and gas exports already go to the E.U.’s member states, including the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, which alone bought $11.3 billion and $11.4 billion of crude petroleum from the U.S. that year.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration found that the U.S. was Europe’s biggest supplier of liquified natural gas (LNG) in 2023. E.U. data shows that the U.S. was the bloc’s overall biggest recipient of exports and that the U.S. had a trade surplus worth $72 billion.
Read more: Trump isn’t backing down from his tariff tough talk
Trump has pledged to boost domestic oil and gas production, open new land for drilling, and slash regulations. He recently called for fully expedited permits for any company or individual investing $1 billion in the U.S., including for companies focused on drilling. The U.S. is experiencing its 10th consecutive year of volume growth in LNG reports, which are set to hit 86.9 million metric tons.
The E.U. had already been considering ramping up its gas purchases before Trump’s latest threats. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters last month that the bloc is considering buying more from the U.S. to offset its reliance on Russian LNG.
“We still get a lot of LNG from Russia and why not replace it by American LNG, which is cheaper for us and brings down our energy prices,” von der Leyen said.
Trump’s comments came after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Trump to discuss a way forward to resolving the Russia-Ukraine War. Scholz was in Brussels on Thursday for the European Council Summit, where leaders discussed the E.U.’s role in global affairs and Trump’s push to limit U.S. support for Ukraine, according to Politico. The war has pushed the E.U. to lower its dependence on Russian LNG exports.
His comments also mark the latest — and likely not the last — threat to slap tariffs on some of the U.S.’s biggest trade partners.
In recent weeks, he has threatened Canada and Mexico, the country’s top trade partners, with 25% tariffs and China with 10% tariffs unless they meet his demands regarding illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. On the campaign trail, he floated general tariffs of up to 20% on imported goods, as well as up to 200% tariffs on vehicles made in Mexico.
During his first administration, Trump levied almost $80 billion worth of new taxes on Americans through tariffs on thousands of products valued at $380 billion in 2018 and 2019, according to the Tax Foundation.
“I’m a big believer in tariffs. I think tariffs are the most beautiful word. I think they’re beautiful. It’s going to make us rich,” Trump said during a recent interview. “Tariffs are a — properly used, are a very powerful tool, not only economically, but also for getting other things outside of economics.”
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