BRUSSELS – Buffeted by tariffs and threats from Washington, the European Union and Canada were yesterday set to discuss drawing closer together, the latest sign of a wider Brussels push to diversify trade away from the United States. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is to hold talks with top EU officials in the Belgian capital after US president Donald Trump imposed painful 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. 

Speaking to AFP on Tuesday, Trudeau said Canada would “be working with our international partners and friends” as it weighs how to address Trump’s tariffs, promising a “firm and clear” response if need be. 

Trudeau’s visit comes as the European Union, faced with a rocky patch in relations with Washington, has moved to position itself as a reliable trade partner for other countries looking to do business. “The situation is not going to get better,” Ignacio Garcia, an international trade expert at Brussels think tank Bruegel, said of EU-US ties under Trump. 

This leaves the EU “no otheroption” butto“invest in developing alternative markets”, he added. The United States accounts for around 20% and 77% of EU and Canadian exports respectively. 

Trump has already signalled that additional tariffs on automobiles, pharmaceuticals and computer chips are coming, and has publicly mused about annexing Canada and Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. 

Bracing for a trade war, Brussels has been working to broaden its trade horizons since the Republican won back the White House in November. In the wake of Trump’s re-election, the bloc has announced a strengthened trade deal with Mexico, the resumption of talks on a free trade deal with Malaysia, and a new agreement with the South American bloc Mercosur. 

It also struck a more conciliatory note towards China, and said European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen’s new top team will visit India in its first trip abroad. 

On Monday, Antonio Costa, who heads the European Counc i l representing the EU’s 27 member states, discussed deepening ties with South Africa, which is entangled in a spat of its own with Trump. 

In a phone call with president Cyril Ramaphosa, Costa stressed Europe was a “reliable and predictable partner” – an implied juxtaposition to Trump’s volatility. 

A day later he announced the “first-ever” EU-Central Asia summit for April after a call with Kazakhstan’s president. 

As explained by a senior EU official last month, Brussels sees bolstering ties with other nations at the rough end of the US stick as common sense, and something to use as leverage with Washington. 

“We can trade with the whole world. If you close your markets, we have other partners,” the official said. – Nampa/AFP