2025-03-30T20:45:50+00:00
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Shafaq News/ On Sunday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Europe would respond collectively if the United States reintroduces tariffs on steel and aluminum.
At the opening of the Hanover industrial trade fair, Scholz said Europe still seeks cooperation with the United States but warned that the bloc would retaliate if forced to. “Europe’s goal remains cooperation,” he said. “But if the US leaves us no choice, such as with the tariffs on steel and aluminum, we as the EU will react as one.”
Responding to US President Donald Trump’s past comments referring to Canada as the “51st US state,” Scholz remarked, “We stand by your side! Canada is not a state that belongs to anyone else. Canada is a proud, independent nation.”
Scholz also rejected protectionist approaches, saying his answer to “my country first” policies was “more free trade, greater competitiveness and more technological sovereignty.”
“Europe is not naive, but we are also not weak,” he added, warning that trade wars “hurt all sides.”
Trump has been enforcing trade tariffs on nearly every country. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said that Trump’s planned tariffs would generate more than $6 trillion in federal revenue over the next decade — a projection that some analysts warned would mark the largest peacetime tax increase in modern US history.
In an appearance on Fox News, Navarro said the administration’s tariffs on auto imports, due to take effect Wednesday, would bring in $100 billion annually. An additional package of yet-to-be-unveiled tariffs, he said, would generate $600 billion per year, totaling $6 trillion over ten years.
Navarro’s comments raised concerns that Trump may be preparing sweeping new trade measures for Wednesday, which he has described as “Liberation Day.” He did not clarify whether the figures represented official White House policy or one side of an internal debate.