Donald Trump Threatens To Use Tariffs To The European Union If He Doesn't Buy More US Oil And Gas

President-elect of the United States (US), Donald Trump (@DonaldTrump)

JAKARTA - President-elect of the United States (US), Donald Trump, has threatened the European Union (EU) will charge if member states do not increase the purchase of oil and gas from the US. This was conveyed by Donald Trump through Truth Social's social network on Friday, December 20.

"I told the European Union that they should close a major deficit with the US by buying our large amounts of oil and gas. Otherwise, tariffs will be imposed on all their belongings," Donald Trump wrote.

The US, as the world's largest crude oil producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), continues to strive to increase its market share in the EU. EU member countries, which have discussed buying more fuel from the US, mostly aim to avoid the trade rates being threatened.

EU officials and member states have begun to prepare for the potential aggressive trade policy of the new Donald Trump administration. German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, emphasized the importance of the EU's unified stance.

"We have prepared the possibility that US policies will be different under the new government," Baerbock said after the G-7 conference in Italy at the end of November.

He added that if Donald Trump re-implements the "America First" policy in trade or climate, the EU will respond with "United Europe."

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also expressed the potential to replace LNG imports from Russia with LNG from the US to reduce dependence on Russian energy. Currently, the US is the largest supplier of LNG in Europe, but energy imports from Russia are still significant.

Donald Trump's threat to the European Union is nothing new. In 2018, he called the EU the main enemy of the US and criticized the bloc for using the US in trading while relying on Washington's support in defense.