As US President Donald Trump threatens to impose 30% tariffs on EU imports next month, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys says the Brussels should avoid escalation while negotiating with Washington.
“In our view, tariffs are not good for anyone. We have to look for a good solution in our trade relations because the European Union has always stood for fair trade, trade that is based on and respects international regulations,” Lithuania’s foreign minister told reporters in Brussels on Monday.
“We have to avoid escalation in our relations with the United States because we have so many things in front of us that we have to solve together,” Budrys continued. “These are geo-economic challenges, these are global challenges, and also the issues that we have to solve together with the United States, like fentanyl, for example. So we are looking for the constructive way forward.”
On Saturday, Trump said that Mexico and the EU would be subject to 30% import duties from next month. Announced in a letter to the bloc, the new tariff is significantly higher than the 20% Trump announced back in April, although trade negotiations between Washington and the EU continue.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday that Brussels would continue to postpone its own tariffs on US goods that it had vowed to introduce as a response to Washington’s tariffs on steel and aluminium imposed earlier this year.
According to Budrys, the US president’s letters on tariffs are seen as a “call to continue negotiations”, which need to be intensified in order to reach a “good agreement”.
“Lithuania fully supports the European Commission’s position and the negotiations,” Budrys said.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
