Blanar: New US Tariffs on Car Imports Will Have Huge Impact on Slovakia

The Hague, March 27 (TASR-correspondent) - If the new 25-percent tariffs on car imports to the USA become a reality, it will have a huge impact on the Slovak economy, as cars make up a significant share of Slovakia's exports to the United States, said Foreign Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) during his working visit to the Netherlands on Thursday. In this context, there's a need for the European Union (EU) to hold negotiations with the USA and to seek a common solution, stated Blanar, who spoke about the activities of the new US administration and President Donald Trump with his Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp during their talks on Wednesday (March 26). "We concurred that we're against any trade wars, but there's a need for the European Union to negotiate with the US side and to seek a common solution. We must respect it if the United States has a different view on trade than the EU does, but at the same time, we must unambiguously defend the interests of the EU, and thus also the interests of individual member states," stressed Blanar. Blanar said that he and his Dutch counterpart support the activities of EU Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic, who is very active in this regard. "We'll cooperate with his team to get these things fixed," added the Slovak minister. US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he'll impose 25-percent tariffs on all cars not made in the USA as of April. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that the EU will react to the imposition of the US import tariffs on cars. ko/df