Trump threatens EU with tariffs over oil and gas imports

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

61% : The European Commission said it was ready to discuss with Trump how to strengthen what it described as an already strong relationship, including in the energy sector.
60% : "The EU is committed to phasing out energy imports from Russia and diversifying our sources of supply," a spokesperson said.
58% : "Europe is taking close to its maximum capacity for U.S. crude, meaning there is little scope for stronger imports next year," said Richard Price, oil markets analyst at Energy Aspects.
56% : The EU already buys the lion's share of U.S. oil and gas exports, according to U.S. government data.
54% : The United States already supplied 47% of the European Union's liquefied natural gas imports and 17% of its oil imports in the first quarter of 2024, according to data from EU statistics office Eurostat.
54% : Reinsch noted that while there is demand in Europe now for U.S. oil and gas to replace shunned Russian supplies, long-term demand is unclear with the transition to renewable energy sources.
52% : No extra volumes are currently available as the United States is exporting at capacity, but Trump has pledged to further grow the country's oil and gas production.
52% : Buying more U.S. energyThe EU has steeply increased purchases of U.S. oil and gas following the block's decision to impose sanctions and cut reliance on Russian energy after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.
48% : William Reinsch, a trade expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the EU could negotiate its way out of Trump's tariffs.
41% : German and Italian car exports currently face a 2.5% U.S. tariff, which could quadruple if Trump makes good on his threats.
41% : The EU imported around 2 bcfd of Russian LNG in 2024 and it could move to ban those supplies and seek replacement from other sources, said Alex Froley, LNG analyst at ICIS.
35% : "I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large-scale purchase of our oil and gas," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
35% : The U.S. ran a $208.7-billion goods trade deficit with the EU in 2023, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
31% : Tariff threatsTrump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has vowed to impose tariffs of 10% on global imports into the U.S. along with a 60% tariff on Chinese goods - duties that trade experts say would upend trade flows, raise costs and draw retaliation against U.S. exports.
26% : Although the U.S. runs a surplus with the EU on services, Trump has focused mainly on goods trade, frequently complaining about the bloc's car exports to the U.S. with few vehicles shipped east across the Atlantic.
25% : Trump has also vowed to authorize hefty tariffs on the top three U.S. trading partners, Mexico, Canada and China, on his first day in office if they fail to stem illegal border crossings into the U.S. and trafficking of the deadly opioid fentanyl.

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