Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free
Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world
US President-elect Donald Trump, in his first trade salvo against Brussels since his election victory, has warned the EU that it must commit to buying “large” quantities of US oil and gas or face tariffs.
The EU is desperately trying to avoid a trade war Trump and has spent the past month mapping out possible ways to avoid tariffs through increased purchases of U.S. goods such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) or agricultural products.
“I have told the European Union that it must make up its enormous deficit with the United States by purchasing our oil and gas on a large scale. Otherwise it’s all the tariffs!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday.
Trump’s threat follows overtures already made by Brussels that member states could buy more U.S. LNG, which has been a lifeline for the bloc after Russia depleted fossil fuel supplies following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
EU Officials have also started working on possible trade retaliation if Trump imposes tariffs, but capitals are eager to avoid a worsening economic conflict with the White House because they rely on the U.S. in other areas such as defense.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in November the EU would consider buying more gas from the US.
“We still get a lot of LNG from Russia and why not replace it with American LNG, which is cheaper for us and lowers our energy prices,” she told reporters.
An EU official noted: “It seems strange as a ‘threat’ given that von der Leyen has alluded to the possibility of doing just that.”
The USA is already the largest LNG and oil supplier to the EU. In the first half of 2024, the US supplied around 48 percent of the bloc’s LNG imports, compared to 16 percent from Russia.
According to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, America supplied 15 percent of the EU’s oil imports in the third quarter.
Trump has threatened a blanket tariff of up to 20 percent on all non-Chinese US imports. Last month, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde urged European leaders to work with him on tariffs and buy more U.S.-made products.
Energy analysts said the US needs to expand LNG production to supply more to the EU.
“The main problem is that the U.S. currently has no spare LNG capacity to supply to Europe,” said Florence Schmit, energy strategist at Rabobank, adding that European countries would have to outbid Asian buyers.
During Trump’s first presidency, then-European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker offered to buy more U.S. gas to curb the threat of a trade war.
Analysts at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel said the EU should back up any offers to buy more U.S. products “with a credible threat of retaliation that could be implemented if the U.S. decides to impose tariffs on EU exports.”
Prices for the international oil benchmark Brent fell on Friday by 0.4 percent to $72.61 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate futures fell 0.4 percent to $69.14 a barrel.
Trump’s warning comes amid a delicate battle in Washington over continued funding for the US government. A possible shutdown loomed on Friday after a Trump-backed plan that would have suspended the debt ceiling was defeated in the House of Representatives.
