U.S. President Donald Trumpsaid the sweeping tariffs that he has imposed on Mexico, Canada and China may cause "short term" pain for Americans, while EU leaders gathered on Monday amid threats the bloc will also face punishing U.S. trade levies.
Here are some responses to the tariffs out of Europe:
BRITAIN
Britain has a "fair and balanced" trading relationship with the United States that benefited both sides, a government spokesperson said on Monday, after President Donald Trump hinted tariffs could be "worked out" between the two countries.
"The U.S. is an indispensable ally and one of our closest trading partners," the spokesperson said.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters over the weekend that his early talks with Trump had focused on building on strong trade relations.
GERMANY
Conservative opposition leader and chancellor hopeful Friedrich Merz said: "Trump will now also realise that the tariffs he is imposing will not have to be paid by those who import into America. Instead, they will have to be paid for by consumers in America."
He said the tariffs could also fuel inflation in the United States.
FINLAND
Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said Europe should negotiate with Trump on trade.
"The most important issue that we all need to understand is that Russia is a threat, a real threat, this is not an opinion this is a fact," he said.
SPAIN
The European Union must remain united to respond to Trump's threats to levy tariffs on its products, Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said.
The bloc should protect its companies and make sure they were in a position to compete on equal terms with rivals from other countries, Cuerpo told Spanish radio station RNE.
EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK POLICYMAKER SIMKUS
ECB policymaker Gediminas Simkus, who is the Lithuanian central bank governor, warned that the tariffs were not good news for the economy or inflation but declined to speculate on the impact.
FRENCH CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR VILLEROY
Trade tariffs imposed by Trump "will increase economic uncertainty," French central bank governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau told France Info, adding this was a worrying development.
Villeroy, who is also a European Central Bank policymaker, said Trump's tariffs were "very brutal" and would hit the autos sector especially.
On possible retaliatory measures, Villeroy said such a response should not be excluded but he urged caution.
"The key is to make our economy stronger," he said.
BELGIUM
The answer to trade tariffs is to respond with the same measures, Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden said at an informal EU defence retreat in Brussels..
"I think tariffs are always bad. Tariffs are bad for trade. Tariffs are bad for the United States", he said.
