BRUSSELS, Sept 17 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to take action against the EU if it moves forward \u200cwith European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal to \u200cmake Canada the bloc’s first associate member. <\/p>\n
“If they do that, if I think it’s \u200bat all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things,” Trump told reporters en route to an event in North Carolina, calling the proposal “laughable”. <\/p>\n
“If it’s a good \u200cintention, that’s fine. If it’s \u2060a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe,” he added. <\/p>\n
Von der Leyen made the proposal on \u2060Wednesday during her annual State of the Union speech, attended by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, as she sought to deepen ties among allies \u200bin what \u200bshe called “an openly hostile world”. <\/p>\n
The EU \u200bfaces the risk of war \u200con its borders due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while both the bloc and Canada have grappled with trade tensions with the United States and an increasingly assertive China. <\/p>\n
Earlier this month, Carney had said he was seeking a “unique alliance” with the EU as relations between Ottawa \u200cand Washington have deteriorated since Trump’s return \u200bto the White House, leading to tariffs \u200bon tens of billions \u200bof dollars in cross-border trade. <\/p>\n
The EU has historically resisted \u200cflexible alliances that have no legal \u200bstatus. <\/p>\n
One EU diplomat \u200bexpressed surprise at the proposal saying “nobody really knows what it means,” adding there were concerns that the European Commission chief “is overpromising \u200band won’t be able \u200cto deliver.” <\/p>\n
Carney is due to address the European Parliament on \u200bThursday morning. <\/p>\n
(Reporting by Mariana Hernandez, Writing by Charlotte Van Campenhout; Editing \u200bby Clarence Fernandez and Hugh Lawson) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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