BRUSSELS, April 7. /TASS/. The European Union wants to respond to the 20% tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump's administration from a position of strength, Politico reported, citing diplomats.
"All participants in the discussions believe that we should not react immediately, but it should definitely be from a position of strength," the source told the newspaper. According to EU sources, Brussels "hates tariffs" and would like to avoid an escalation of trade relations with Washington, but most countries of the association are convinced that "something needs to be done to get Trump." "This is a classic case of dealing with a school bully - you need to punch him in the nose," a European diplomat said.
According to Politico's sources, EU foreign ministers will discuss a retaliatory strategy and sectors of American industry on which Europe plans to impose tariffs at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.
On April 2, Trump announced the introduction of tariffs on imports from many countries, with a 20% rate to be applied to the EU. Washington's individual import tariffs on other countries will take effect on April 9 at 00:01 a.m. US East Coast time (4:01 a.m. GMT).