Trump's tariffs may contradict NATO's statute - Head of Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Espen Barth Eide (Photo: Getty Images)
New US tariffs may violate NATO’s charter, which prohibits economic pressure between allies. Norway has expressed concerns over this policy, states Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, during a NATO meeting in Brussels, addressed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reminding him of a provision in the Alliance's charter.
"I am reading Article 2. It states that we must refrain from using economic power against one another," Eide said, quoting the document.
In his view, the new tariffs Washington imposes may contradict this provision. Article 2 of NATO’s charter states that members of the organization shall seek to eliminate inconsistencies in their international economic policies and shall encourage economic cooperation among themselves.
Rubio’s reaction
According to Eide, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio understood the essence of the issue.
The Foreign Minister explained that he believed he had understood the matter, and added that there were quite a few Europeans who agreed with this.
It should be noted that the new US tariffs directly affected Norway. A 15% customs duty was imposed on imports of goods from this country, while Denmark and other EU countries will face tariffs of 20%.
Trump imposes new import tariffs
On April 2, US President Donald Trump introduced new tariffs on imports from all countries worldwide.
The tariff rates range from 10% to 50%, depending on the importing country. Specifically, for Ukraine, Trump imposed a tariff of 10%.
For more details on the tariff rates for major US trade partners, see the article by RBC-Ukraine.
