EU in early talks with US but preparing ‘robust’ tariff countermeasures, says trade chief – as it happened

EU trade commissioner Maro efovi says bloc in a tough spot' with 70% of exports being subjected to tariffs

Outgoing German economy minister Robert Habeck is not mincing his words this morning in response to a question on US tariffs and how they were calculated.

He says:

The calculations, from my point of view, are nonsense. Even the basis of the calculation is nonsense.

The assumption that a trade budget surplus or deficit is a problem in itself, is a wrong estimation, because in the end, globalisation serves all economies, and especially the American economy, [which] has [seen] huge growth figures in GDP, better than a lot of European countries. So you see, if we the rest of the world, are selling cheaper goods to the American economy, it's of use of the American economy.