Will Trump’s tariffs on Europe affect its support for Ukraine? Expert explains
Photo: US President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
New US tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump against the European Union are unlikely to leave Ukraine without financial or military support from Europe, said Andrii Dlihach, professor at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and head of the Advanter Group, in a comment to the YouTube channel of RBC-Ukraine.
According to the professor, the likelihood that the EU would become unable to finance Ukraine due to a trade war with the United States is low.
“We considered such a scenario. It seems realistic but unlikely. Unlikely because neither €40, €100, nor even €200 billion is an unmanageable amount for the European Union. I mean direct military or financial support to Ukraine. Especially since there is a clear instrument - Russia’s immobilized assets,” Dlihach explained.
The professor added that such a scenario is even less likely because the European Union has something to bargain with the United States.
“We’re talking about technologies, chemicals, equipment. Because the United States depends on European imports,” the expert noted.
Dlihach believes that the EU will now take advantage of the new US tariffs to boost its own competitiveness and sell the need for radical modernization to its domestic political audience. Europe, he said, will try to make the bloc more attractive for investment.
“I’d say that the reorientation of Indian and Chinese manufacturers toward the European market, replacing declining sales in the US, could be an even greater challenge than the trade war with the US,” Dlihach concluded.
Trump tariffs
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly announced plans to impose tariffs on goods from European Union countries.
Specifically, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on all imports of steel and aluminum, with no exceptions or exclusions. These tariffs, which also cover finished metal products, are aimed at curbing what administration officials described as attempts by countries to circumvent existing trade barriers.
Later, on April 2, Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs on imports from more than 180 countries.
On April 7, it was reported that Trump had introduced additional tariffs of 20% on imported goods from the EU. He also demanded that Europe pay reparations for past years.
The EU stated it has a plan of countermeasures in response to the tariffs introduced and proposed by President Trump. The first European retaliatory measures could take effect as soon as April 15.
At the same time, the EU offered the US a mutual zero-tariff agreement on industrial goods in an effort to avoid a full-scale trade war between the two sides.
Today, however, Trump rejected Brussels’ proposal for zero tariffs and said the EU must purchase $350 billion worth of American energy to receive any tariff relief.
