Trump’s Tariffs ‘A Major Blow to the World Economy,’ EU’s Von der Leyen Says

“The global economy will massively suffer,” she said at a press conference in Uzbekistan on Thursday morning. “Uncertainty will spiral and trigger the rise of further protectionism. The consequences will be dire,” she said.

Von der Leyen also said it is not too late to engage in talks with the U.S. “From the outset we have always been ready to negotiate with the United States, to remove the remaining barriers to trans-Atlantic trade,” she said.

In a watershed moment for global trade, Trump unveiled a plan combining universal tariffs and country-by-country rates on Wednesday, including a 10% levy across-the-board on all imports and individualized additional tariffs on around 60 countries he believes treat the U.S. unfairly. Additional 25% tariffs on global automotive imports are also going into effect today.

U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports went into effect last month, hitting the EU’s already embattled industrial base.

The U.S. president has used tariffs to deal with what he sees as imbalances between the U.S. and other global economies on trade. Trump also ordered federal agencies to look into a broad range of corporate regulations in non-U.S. countries out of suspicion they unfairly target American companies, with a view to factoring them into trade policy. A recent U.S. trade report dedicated several pages to EU laws such as the Digital Markets Act, saying they are discriminatory.

The EU chief said the bloc is ready to respond, with a measure to address the steel tariffs currently being finalized and a second response also in the works.