During a press appearance with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used the opportunity to deliver a firm response to the United States over its newly announced tariffs. She warned that the measures will not only hurt U.S. consumers but also destabilize the global economy, particularly harming developing countries. While reiterating the EU’s openness to a negotiated zero-for-zero tariff deal on industrial goods, she made clear that Europe is fully prepared to defend its interests. This includes the possible implementation of countermeasures and the creation of an Import Surveillance Task Force to monitor trade flows and guard against diversion.
Von der Leyen also outlined how the EU is reinforcing its economic resilience by focusing on two strategic priorities: strengthening the Single Market through the removal of internal barriers, and diversifying its trade relations well beyond the transatlantic partnership. With 83% of global trade taking place outside the U.S., she emphasized that the EU is expanding its reach through deals with partners such as Mercosur, Mexico, India, and several countries in Southeast Asia.
At the same time, she stressed the importance of close coordination with European industry. Von der Leyen is holding ongoing talks with representatives from sectors including steel, automotive, pharmaceuticals, and SMEs to ensure their perspectives shape the EU’s response. She also highlighted the growing cooperation with Norway on clean energy projects—such as offshore wind, hydrogen, and carbon capture—underlining that Europe’s commitment to the green transition remains strong, even amid rising global trade tensions.
Source: ChatGPT/InsightEU
Press statement by President von der Leyen with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Støre
Dear Jonas,
Welcome to Brussels. Norway is a member of the European family. We are united by shared values and integrated through our Single Market. When faced with shared challenges, we are keen to explore common solutions. That is exactly what we have done today. And our discussion showed how much we have in common: from support to Ukraine, and defence, to how we are going forward with US tariffs. Our cooperation makes us stronger.
On defence, Norway will be able to participate in the joint procurement of SAFE, that is our EUR 150 billion loan programme. And industries in Norway will be treated like EU industries. On Ukraine, I was very pleased to hear what your plans are, because Norway has from day one on been a key supporter. If we now take our financial support combined with your own assistance, this will make a difference for Ukraine right now. We also discussed progress on the Green Alliance, which we signed in April two years ago. We are now turning words into reality through concrete projects, from offshore wind, to hydrogen, to CCS and CCUS. In particular, we agreed to speed up coordination between Norway, Member States and our companies to get even more projects up and running. Because in the global clean tech race, we know that we are stronger together.
We also discussed the effects of US tariffs. These tariffs come first and foremost at immense costs for US consumers and businesses. But at the same time, they have a massive impact on the global economy. Developing countries are hit especially hard. This is a major turning point for the United States.
Nonetheless, we stand ready to negotiate with the US. Indeed, we have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods as we have successfully done with many other trading partners. Because Europe is always ready for a good deal. So we keep it on the table. But we are also prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests. And in addition, we will also protect ourselves against indirect effects through trade diversion.
For this purpose, we will set up an ‘Import Surveillance Task Force’. We will work with industry to make sure we have the necessary evidence base for our policy measures. We will stay in very close contact to minimise effects of our actions on each other.
Today and tomorrow, I continue my intense outreach to the industrial stakeholders in the European Union. I met with the steel and aluminium industry this morning, as well as BusinessEurope and SMEunited. I am meeting the automotive industry still today and the pharmaceutical industry tomorrow morning. We are discussing the response to the US but also the other two pillars of our strategy: the one is strengthening our Single Market, so getting rid of remaining barriers. The other pillar is diversifying our trade relations.
Further diversifying our trade relations is very critical for us, because this broadens the market opportunities and it is crucial for our companies. So we will focus like a laser beam on the 83% of global trade that is beyond the US – so, vast opportunities. This is why we are deepening our relations with our trading partners: You know the deals we have done with Mercosur, Mexico, Switzerland, and we are working with India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and many others. With that, we want to be very clear: Europe stands together for our businesses and with our businesses for all Europeans in the European Union and beyond.
Thank you very much.
Source – EU Commission