ECB’s de Guindos: Europe Should Negotiate With US in Trade Matters

10 February 2025

By Marta Vilar – MADRID (Econostream) – European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Monday after US President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on all imports on steel and aluminium that the European Union should engage in discussion with the US.

In an interview with Spanish TV La 1, de Guindos said that ‘it is very important to avoid a trade war, it ends up being a situation in which everyone loses.’

Europe had to negotiate, he said.

‘The new US administration uses economic instruments to achieve political objectives’, he said.

Asked about a potential individual approach to US tariffs by European countries instead of a joint response, de Guindos said that such internal division would not be ‘very intelligent’.

Tariffs created a supply shock and the most clear impact would be on global economic growth, he said, while the effect on inflation was not so clear.

‘We are more concerned about the impact on the economy than on inflation in the short term’, he said.

Higher US tariffs on imports from China would also have an effect on Europe because it would create trade deviations, he said.

The trajectory of the ECB’s monetary policy was ‘clear’, he said.

‘When one is in a dark room with a lot of uncertainty, steps should be taken very carefully’, he added.