Trump opens negotiations on tariffs - the focus!

Trump opens negotiations on tariffs - the focus!

Vienna, Österreich - President Donald Trump has signaled his willingness on a return flight from Florida to Washington to negotiate the tariffs newly introduced by his government on imports to the USA. This reports vienna.at . Trump strives for a solution to the considerable trade deficit with China, the European Union and other countries and makes it clear that he is no longer willing to accept these deficits.

The conditions include that the United States either achieves a trade surplus or achieve a balanced trade relationship. Trump particularly referred to the massive trade deficit towards China, which is said to be hundreds of billions of dollars every year. He also criticized the trade with European countries, which in his opinion have an excessive surplus of trade compared to the United States. In this context, he expressed that the European Union was founded with the aim of exploiting the USA.

customs increases and their effects

The debate about tariffs has also achieved European politics. After Trump's re -election in November 2024, the European Parliament discussed the effects of the new tariffs on transatlantic relationships. Leading EU MPs expressed the desire to continue the transatlantic cooperation and emphasized the need to strengthen trade relationships. On February 12, 2025, a debate between MEPs and representatives of the European Commission took place, which addressed the customs threats of the Trump government. Maroš Šefčovič, a member of the Commission, criticized the US tariffs as harmful to companies and consumers, while Bernd Lange, chairman of the Committee on International Trade, put the opportunity to re-enact.

The context of the tariffs and the global economy

The debate about tariffs is not new and is in a larger context of protectionism and free trade. Historically, tariffs served to protect national economic interests while they can generate income for states at the same time. In recent decades, especially since the 1950s, tariffs have been largely reduced worldwide to liberalize international trade. This liberalization was funded by fundamental agreements such as the General Customs and Trade Agreement (Gatt) of 1948 and the subsequent foundation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994. WTO supports free trade, but has not implemented any extensive measures to monitor tariffs, which occasionally leads to tensions that were much discussed under US President Barack Obama in relation to China's subsidies and competitive behavior. The current course of Trump shows an increasing trend towards protectionism, which also shows the 2008/2009 financial crisis, as Jürgen Matthes from the Institute of German Economy notes

economists warn that tariffs can increase the prices for consumers and disrupt existing supply chains, which further destabilizes the global markets. The trade war between the USA and other nations could also lead to countermeasures and promote the possibility of an increased international area of tension. Ultimately, the new customs pressure could have a negative impact on the US economy, especially since the United States is already fighting with a negative trade balance sheet balance.