The European Union is working on concessions to make to the Trump administration in order to partially remove US tariffs before they are set to increase. Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Rick Newman joins Catalysts to discuss these ongoing negotiations and the potential for more volatility in global trade.
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The European Union working on concessions it's willing to make to the Trump administration to partially remove US tariffs before they're set to increase next week. Yahoo! Finances, Rick Newman, joining me now with the latest. Rick, great to speak with you. Talk to me about these EU concessions. Does it signal to us that we might be in for more negotiations on tariffs?
Yes, I I think so and I I would imagine that European nations have been planning this all along. Um, European nations are like the OG uh tariff experts. Uh, they've been doing tariffs, uh, for a long time, including all kinds of minute tariffs on each other and all these different kind of trade exclusions before the, uh, European Union went into effect. So, they knew what was coming when Trump got into office. And I would imagine that that they've been planning for this for some time. Now, we don't know, uh, you know, where these negotiations are likely to lead, but this is what Trump says he wants. He, uh, he says, you know, the reason I'm doing these tariffs is to get more favorable trading terms for the United States. And it's not just tariffs, it's you know, there's some instances where other nations may have low tariffs, but they do other things to keep American products out of their markets. Uh, so it's getting more access to uh, foreign markets, including those in Europe, for for American goods. Uh, and all kinds of things. So, I you know, I think I think this is probably going to go I don't think we're ever going to sort of like get to the end of this. I think this could go on for many months with uh, continual adjustments here and there.
Rick, you're scaring me because you said something that is interesting. You said that Europe's been planning these concessions all along because they anticipated tariffs coming. Doesn't that just reinforce the president's strategy that I have to enforce tariffs, or put them on, before anyone's actually going to concede? And that means we're going to in for a ton more volatility. Do you see other countries doing the same tactic?
Yeah. In fact, I could I can foresee other countries sort of following the model for whatever Europe lays out here. Just because Europe has has a better sense of how to do this. Does this justify Trump's whole approach? I wouldn't I would not go that far, because you have everybody has to remember that um, while we might get um, some more, you know, an increase in in some US exports to these other countries, uh, tariffs are going to raise prices for Americans. I mean, we we should just not lose lose sight of that fact. This is a this is basically a consumption tax. So, every tariff Trump imposes on imports to United States that remains in place, even if it's as low as 10%, is going to raise prices for Americans. So, is that worth the trade off, uh, for exporting more stuff to other countries? Most economists will tell you, "No, it is not worth the trade off." There certainly are some things in the global trading system that can be improved from the American perspective, but raising prices on Americans as the starting point is not the way most economists would go about it. So, For the record, I'm with you on that, Rick. So, I want I don't want to come I don't want to be mislabeled by that. I'm with you on that. I'm an Adam Adam Smith free trade absolutist, um, few exceptions for tariffs, so I don't want to come across the wrong way. So, I agree with you 100%.
