US president-elect Donald Trump has warned the EU that it must commit to buying “large scale” amounts of US oil and gas or face tariffs, in his first trade salvo against Brussels since his election victory.
The EU is desperate to avoid a trade war with Trump and has spent the past month racing to draw up potential ways to avoid tariffs by increasing purchases of US goods such as liquid natural gas (LNG) or agricultural products.
“I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil and gas. Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday.