By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on Thursday has threatened to take action against the European Union and cut trade with the bloc if it moves forward with the proposal by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to make Canada its first associate member.
France’s Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad stated that the US holds no power to veto the EU’s geopolitical choices.
EU chief raised the prospect a day before Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was scheduled to address the European Parliament.
Ursula von der Leyen’s pitch came at a time when both EU and Canada seek to pivot away from an aggressive US under the leadership of Donald Trump, media reports said.
“If they do that, if I think it’s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things,” Trump told mediapersons, while on his day to an event in North Carolina.
He called the proposal “laughable”.
“If it’s a good intentionm that’s fine. If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe,” he added.
France’s Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad stated that the US holds no power to veto the EU’s geopolitical choices.
“It is not up to the United States or anyone else to choose the political and geopolitical direction of the Europeans”, he told Public Senat TV channel on Thursday.
The proposal was made by the EU chief on Wednesday during her annual State of the Union speech, which was attended by Mark Carney with hopes of deepening ties among allies in what she called “an openly hostile world”.
Carney stated that he was seeking a “unique alliance” with the bloc as relations between Ottawa and Washington have deteriorated since Trump returned to the White House, leading to tariffs on tens of billions of dollars in cross-border trade.
