Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative, suggested the Trump administration was ready to escalate its trade confrontation with the EU, potentially through new tariffs, after sealing a truce with China and enacting the USMCA agreement with Canada and Mexico to replace Nafta.
In an interview with the Fox Business Network on Tuesday, Mr Lighthizer said the US had a “very unbalanced relationship” with Europe on trade, with an annual bilateral deficit of up to $180bn this year, which was unsustainable for Washington.
“There are a lot of barriers to trade there, and there are a lot of other problems that we have to address. So, dealing with Europe is something that’s very important and the president has focused on,” Mr Lighthizer said.