A senior MEP has admitted that “things have changed” under Donald Trump’s second term.
The comments by Barry Andrews came on the eve of a much-awaited announcement by President Trump on sweeping new trade tariffs.
President Trump is preparing to unveil sweeping tariffs today (2 April), in what the White House has dubbed "Liberation Day".
At this stage it's unclear how high the tariffs could go and exactly which countries could be targeted.
All options remain on the table including the possibility of a 20% universal tariff.
Trump has already imposed tariffs on aluminum and steel imports and has increased duties on all goods from China. But he has also repeatedly threatened to impose other tariffs, only to cancel or postpone them.
Speaking to this site in Strasbourg on Tuesday, Andrews said the new proposals could cause “huge disruption” to global trade.
The Irish member said, “We have seen this before in the previous Trump administration.
“However, the stakes are higher this time so the need for EU unity now is extremely compelling.”
He cited today’s announcement and “the reciprocal tariffs, as the U.S has called them.”
The MEP, in Strasbourg for the plenary, told EUReporter, “It is important for the EU now to do two things.
“First, it must take time to reflect on what is announced today and, second, it must act in unison against what are deeply unnecessary and damaging tariffs, damaging to people on both sides of the Atlantic both in the U.S and in Europe,” said Andrews, a Renew Europe MEP who represents the Dublin constituency.
“The best outcome would be a negotiated settlement of any grievances that are alleged to exist between the EU and US.”
The MEP, who chairs the parliament’s influential development committee, added: “We are in a state of dynamic change and the EU should take control of its own future, including in defence.
“There is no doubt that the US approach has changed and the EU has to reflect on this. For instance, the issue of funding and, for example, the re-arming of Europe still has to be settled.
“We in Europe have relied on the U.S but, right now, you have to say that this looks like a bad bet,” said the MEP who previously served as Irish Minister of State for Children from 2008 to 2011.
In a videoed Q&A with this site, the deputy went on, “The US has stood shoulder to shoulder for 80 years with Europe but we cannot be naïve.
“There has been a definite new departure in relations between the two sides the U.S and EU, but we also must remember all the things that still tie us together.”
Andrews, an MEP since 2020, said, “Therefore, the best way forward is to reflect on whatever new arrangements are announced today while, at the same time, we must show unity of purpose. After all, the EU and its 27 member states are a much larger entity than the U.S.”
Hard details of what Trump will unveil remained unclear.
According to the Washington Post, aides are considering a plan that would raise duties on products by about 20% from nearly every country, rather than targeting certain countries or products.
Trump, according to Reuters, has argued that American workers and manufacturers have been hurt over the past decades by free-trade deals that have lowered barriers to global commerce and fueled the growth of a $3 trillion US market for imported goods.
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