MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Monday criticized a trade deal reached between the European Union (EU) and the United States (US), saying it would deal a “heavy blow” to European industry.
The agreement, clinched on Sunday between US President Donald Trump and EU Commission chief Ursula Von der Leyen, would see EU exports to the US taxed at 15 percent.
Brussels also agreed to purchase $750 billion worth of energy products from the US, an arrangement Von der Leyen said would help eliminate Europe’s use of Russian gas.
“Such an approach will lead to the further de-industrialization of Europe, to the flow of investments from Europe to the United States, and of course, this will be a very heavy blow,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a youth conference near Moscow.
“First of all to energy prices, the outflow of investments for European industry and European agriculture,” he added.
Since taking office in January, Trump has sought to reshape US trade with the world, slapping punitive tariffs on dozens of countries he says are “taking advantage” of the US.
Some countries in the EU welcomed Sunday’s agreement after months of instability, but others have described it as unbalanced and unsustainable in the longer term.
Consequences avoided
Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed the trade deal on Monday, saying it had avoided “potentially devastating” consequences.
Meloni — an ally of Trump on many issues — had earlier this month warned against a “trade war within the West.”
Speaking at a summit in Ethiopia, Meloni said a “trade escalation between Europe and the United States would have had unpredictable and potentially devastating consequences.”
She added, however, that she still had to “study the details” of the deal.
She spoke hours after Trump and von der Leyen struck the deal in Scotland.