Trump trade remarks raise eyebrows in Europe

BRUSSELS — European Union nations reacted with surprise and defiance Monday to Donald Trump’s comments that he believed NATO was “obsolete,” that more member states would leave the 28-nation EU and that he would impose a hefty import tax on German automakers.

Trump said that German car manufacturers could face tariffs of up to 35 per cent if they set up plants in Mexico instead of the U.S. and try to export cars to the U.S. from there.

Responding to Trump’s comments Monday in an interview with German daily Bild and the Times of London, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the U.S. president-elect’s view on NATO and criticism that allied members weren’t paying their fair share has “caused astonishment.”

At a meeting of EU foreign ministers, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the best response to such an interview was simple — a united Europe.

In Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that even though Trump’s positions had been well known, “I think we Europeans have our fate in our own hands.”

“I’m personally going to wait until the American president takes office, and then we will naturally work with him on all levels,” she told reporters.

Some EU officials fear Trump’s frequent Twitter postings might be the prelude to a caustic presidency after Friday’s inauguration.

“We are going to move away from, I guess, a kind of Twitter diplomacy, and then into a reality,” said Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen, adding that reality could be “perhaps more difficult than what is going on on Twitter.”

In his interview, Trump indicated he was indifferent to whether the EU stays together or not, a sharp break from the Obama administration, which encouraged British people to vote to remain in the EU in the June referendum.

The British exit from the EU would “end up being a great thing,” he said.

Trump said car manufacturers including BMW could face tariffs of up to 35 per cent if they set up plants in Mexico instead of in the U.S. and try to export the cars to the U.S.

BMW said Monday that the company would stick to its plans to produce cars in Mexico. “The production is aimed at the world market,” BMW said. “Therefore the plant in Mexico will complement ... the production plants in Germany and China.”