Trump Rejects EU's 'Duty-Free Communist Goods' Proposal: "Very Bad for Us"

U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed the European Union (EU)'s proposal for 'mutual tariff-free treatment of manufactured goods.'

On the 8th (local time), according to AFP and Bloomberg, President Trump told reporters at the White House, "The EU has been very, very bad to us."

He added, "We have paid the cost to protect them militarily, but they have taken advantage of us in trade. This is not a good combination," and claimed, "Like Japan, they don't use our cars and don't take our agricultural products. They practically take nothing."

AFP reported that this was a response to Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, revealing that the EU had proposed 'mutual tariff-free treatment' to the U.S.

The European Commission stated that it has been reviewing a plan since February this year to impose no tariffs on each other's manufactured goods, including automobiles, and announced that it would again postpone retaliatory tariff measures that had been discussed as a response to the Trump administration's steel and aluminum tariffs.

However, President Trump said that this was not sufficient to resolve the U.S. trade deficit with the EU and mentioned the possibility of European countries expanding their purchases of U.S. energy. Trump said, "We have a $350 billion (approximately 518 trillion won) deficit with the EU, but this will disappear quickly," adding, "One easy and fast way to eliminate the deficit is for them to buy energy from us."

However, President Trump did not clearly state whether he would withdraw the high tariffs unilaterally imposed if the EU actually purchased large amounts of U.S. energy.