Economy ministers from Italy and Spain are calling for European governments to avoid confrontation with the U.S. over President Donald Trump’s tariffs, despite the biggest EU countries calling for a tougher stance.
“We still are calling for a negotiated solution,” Carlos Cuerpo, Spain’s minister of economy, trade and business, said, Bloomberg reported Saturday. Meanwhile, Giancarlo Giorgetti Italian economy and finance minister, urged colleagues not to use “the panic button.”
“We must try to keep a cool head, evaluate the impact, and avoid a policy of retaliatory tariffs which would just be damaging for all, and especially for us,” Giorgetti said at a conference in Cernobbio, beside Lake Como.
Earlier this week Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the American tariffs were “wrong” but that Rome would do everything to work on an agreement with Washington with the aim of averting a trade war that would weaken the West in favor of other global players.
France and Germany, however, want to see a tougher response to Trump’s tariffs.
“We are in a strong position. We can join forces with many countries, with many regions of the world and increase the pressure on the Americans accordingly,” German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on April 3.
French President Emmanuel Macron, in the meantime, wants EU businesses to stop investing in America in response to Trump’s tariffs. “It is important that future investments, the investments announced over the last few weeks, should be put on hold for some time until we have clarified things with the United States of America,” Macron said on April 3.
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