The European Union has “no choice” but to negotiate a new trade deal with the U.S., President Donald Trump told CNBC on Wednesday.
The president met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday, and told CNBC’s Joe Kernen that the pair had a “great talk.”
Amid ongoing trade negotiations, Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on European cars in a bid to strong-arm EU leaders. In yesterday’s meeting, he claimed to have told von der Leyen that absent a trade deal, he would need to “take action” in the form of “very high tariffs on their cars and other things.”
Trump said that Europe has been “very tough to deal with” and had “taken advantage” of the U.S., but suggested that the bloc now has “no choice” but to make a deal.
“We’ve had a tremendous deficit for many, many years — over $150 billion with Europe,” he said, adding that he would be “very surprised” if he did have to implement the tariffs.
The U.S. goods and services trade deficit with the EU was $109 billion in 2018, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
U.S. exports of Goods and Services to the EU supported an estimated 2.6 million jobs in 2015, the latest available data, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
