Donald Trump said at Economic Forum that he will arrive at another trade deal with the European Union before the presidential elections in November.
“We’re going to begin arranging,” he stated, while rehashing his well-known mantra that the US has been dealt with “unpleasantly unreasonably” in past understandings.
The US has been losing 150 billion or more over many years with the European Union,” he said. “They have trade sanctions where you can’t trade; they have tariffs all over the place. They make it impossible. They are frankly more difficult to do business with than China — all you have to do is ask Boris.”
Trump mostly answered questions about his impeachment trial, which got underway at the US Senate on Tuesday night, dismissing it as a “total hoax.”
‘They have to do it.’
He said he had met EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at Davos and was confident of rapid progress on a deal.
“They have to do that,” he said. “I’m not saying it from strength or weakness; I’m just saying they have to do it.”
Pressed on an exact date, he said: “I don’t have a timeline, but maybe I do in my own mind. I have a date in my mind it’s a fairly quick date, and if we’re unable to make a deal then we’ll do even better.”
The EU refused to negotiate with President Barack Obama or President George W Bush, Trump said. “Me, they’re talking to …, and we’ll have a deal.”
The president told reporters he has a “tremendous relationship” with the World Trade Organisation and promised to “do something that I think will be very dramatic.