Polish PM Tusk urges for EU unity as Europe faces tariff threats from US
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called on the European Union (EU) to stay united as the bloc confronts the threat of a trade war with the United States.
Speaking in Brussels on Monday during an EU leaders’ meeting, Tusk warned that trade tensions with Washington would present a cruel paradox for Europe, emphasizing the need for solidarity in dealing with challenges from its closest ally.
“This is perhaps the first such test of the solidarity and unity of the European Union in a very unusual situation when we are dealing with such a series of surprises from our closest ally,” Tusk told the Polish Press Agency.
He stressed the importance of “common sense, calmness, and responsibility” in addressing potential trade conflicts. “We must be able to take care of our relations with the U.S., but we must also have a sense of our own dignity and strength. We must undoubtedly be unquestionably united,” he added, according to Xinhua news agency.
The United States is the EU’s largest trade partner, with European countries primarily exporting pharmaceuticals, automobiles, and advanced machinery to the US. In 2023, the EU recorded a trade surplus of 85.6 billion euros (88.68 billion US dollars) with the United States, according to Eurostat. However, US President Donald Trump has criticized the trade imbalance, citing a US-EU trade deficit of 213 billion US dollars in 2024. He called the deficit an “atrocity” and vowed with “full certainty” to impose tariffs on EU goods.
Tusk described trade wars as “a complete mistake” and called the situation “one of the cruelest paradoxes” for the EU, given its alliance with the United States. He expressed hope that the EU’s “firm, clear, friendly” stance would be heeded by the American administration.
