Mr Trump made the damning statement as he unveiled a new tax law in the US, taking the opportunity to deride Brussels for being “solidly against” Washington. During a speech in 2018, he said: “If you look at the European Union, it’s very solidly against us in terms of trade. It’s almost, we can’t even do business.” He went on to say that the EU sends its cars and “everything” to the US, “and they don’t want to take our product. So we can’t let that happen”.
It was a controversial remark, though, as at the time the EU was the top export market for Washington, having taken in £385billion in goods and services in 2016, according to data from the Office of the US Trade Representative.
There was, however, a £70billion deficit for the US, as EU exports to the North American country were higher at £455billion.
Mr Trump’s hostility towards the bloc came amid a trade conflict with Brussels, which started in March 2018 when the President announced he would hike tariffs on steel and aluminium.
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