BRUSSELS �� The European Union says it will continue a tit-for-tat escalation in its trade dispute with the U.S. while countering President Donald Trump's assertion that the U.S. is being treated unfairly by the 28-nation bloc.
Jyrki Katainen, the EU commissioner in charge of jobs and growth, told the French newspaper Le Monde in a story posted Saturday that if Trump applies new tariffs to European cars, as he threatened this week, the bloc "again, would have no choice but to react."
The EU imposed tariffs on $3.3 billion worth of American products this week in response to duties on its metals exports. The commission, the EU's executive arm, said that the $1.2 trillion euros in commerce between the EU and U.S. is equitable, and it disputed Trump's assertion that the EU needs to be punished because of unfair trade practices, according to an internal EU memo obtained by Bloomberg.
The U.S. had a surplus in services trade with the EU of $45 billion in 2017, according to the memo, citing U.S. statistics. The memo also said the EU is the largest investor in the U.S., accounting for 72 percent of inward direct investment and that EU-headquartered companies employed 3.2 million people in the states.
Including trade in goods, services and primary income from investments, the U.S. runs a $14 billion surplus with the EU, according to the memo.
"Based on the Tariffs and Trade Barriers long placed on the U.S. and its great companies and workers by the European Union, if these Tariffs and Barriers are not soon broken down and removed, we will be placing a 20% Tariff on all of their cars coming into the U.S. Build them here!" Trump wrote on Twitter.
The European tariffs target politically resonant products, including 25 percent duties on Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Levi jeans and bourbon. The countermeasures, which went into effect Friday, hit U.S. consumer, agricultural and steel products in many key Republican constituencies, putting pressure on Trump before the midterm elections in November.
"Members of U.S. Congress, from both parties, don't necessarily share the views of the president, nor does the private sector," Katainen told Le Monde. "Once the measures start making an impact, the pressure will mount."
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(Mawad reported from Paris. Nikos Chrysoloras contributed to this report.)
