Morning opening: A broken stick

 

07.16 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/apr/03/europe-reaction-donald-trump-tariffs-live-news

Morning opening: A broken stick

Jakub Krupa

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned this morning that the global economy “will massively suffer” as a result of tariffs imposed by US president Donald Trump last night, as she said the EU was “prepared to respond.”

 

Despite Trump’s direct attack on “pathetic” EU as he imposed 20% tariffs on the bloc, von der Leyen still expressed hopes that the relationship could “move from confrontation to negotiation,” as she warned “there seems to be no order in disorder.”

 

But it wasn’t immediately obvious that there was any genuine prospect of that happening.

 

Instead the EU and the individual member states are now scrambling to consider how to manage the situation.

 

French president Emmanuel Macron has called an emergency meeting with sectors affected by Trump’s tariffs this afternoon.

 

German economic daily Handelsblatt published new estimates this morning that the US tariffs – including 25% on car imports – could cost German carmakers BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen as much as €11 bn given Germany is the largest EU car exporter to the US. For perspective, it’s just under a third of the total value of German automotive exports to the US at €36.8 bn.

 

But the worry is not only about the immediate impact, but the more long term consequences of last night’s decision.

 

Addressing Europeans directly, von der Leyen said “I know that many of you feel let down by our oldest ally,” as she stressed the need to think about what’s next.

 

Or as Moritz Schularick, president of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, put it to Handelsblatt:

 

“There is this memorable picture of a stick that you can bend and that comes back again and again. But at some point, if you bend too much, the stick breaks.

 

I believe that in terms of trust in the United States, something has broken down in recent weeks that will not come back so quickly.”

 

It’s Thursday, 3 April 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

 

Good morning. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a lively one.