EU trade ministers discuss tariff strategy
How should the EU respond to Donald Trump’s tariff decisions? This will be discussed by trade ministers in Luxembourg today.
Luxembourg (dpa) - EU trade ministers are meeting today to discuss the tariff conflict with the US. The meeting in Luxembourg is to discuss which strategy might prompt US President Donald Trump to withdraw the recently imposed special tariffs. At the same time, the plan is to step up preparations for counter-tariffs and other forms of retaliation. These are to be imposed should negotiation attempts fail.
Germany is represented by acting Trade Minister Robert Habeck. Like many other European politicians, he fears that Trump’s new tariffs could cause severe economic problems worldwide. Stock markets have plunged even further as the new week begins. The German stock market index DAX dropped by around ten percent when trading opened. It fell by more than 2,100 points to 18,489 in the first few minutes. This was followed by a smaller rally that saw the German stock exchange barometer regain the 19,000 mark. Earlier, Asian stock markets had also slumped.