World leaders condemn Trump tariffs as announcement delivers 'major blow' to global economy

World leaders are reacting to President Trump's “Liberation Day” tariffs in different ways, with some fearing it may cripple economies around the world.

Trump’s announcement of a new 20% tariff on the European Union drew a sharp rebuke from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said it was a “major blow to the world economy.”

President Trump announced far-reaching new tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners yesterday. The Trump tariff hikes included another 34% tax on imports from China, which was already looking at a 20% tariff hike, bringing the total tariffs on Chinese products to 54%, as per NBC.

Trump also added a 20% tax on products from the European Union, a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries, 46% on Vietnam, and 32% on Taiwan.

The full list of countries to be assigned tariffs is long, and includes nearly every area from Mauritius to Brunei to Cambodia and even the islands of Oceania (some only inhabited by penguins).

Imports from the countries on Trump's tariff list include various items: oil, seafood, construction plaster, tobacco, sugar, rubber, nuclear reactors, pearls, cars, automobile parts, and pretty much any products and materials seen on U.S. shelves.

Von der Leyen held off, however, from announcing new retaliatory measures and underlined that the EU was ready to negotiate with the U.S.

The new price hikes could be a painful transition for many Americans as middle-class essentials such as housing, autos, and clothing are expected to become more costly, while disrupting the alliances built to ensure peace and economic stability.

Germany’s economy minister, Robert Habeck, said that these are “the most disruptive tariff increases for 90 years.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun echoed European leaders, adding that the tariffs violate WTO rules and “harm the common interests of people of all countries, and do not help solve the problems of the U.S. itself. It is clear to everyone that more and more countries are opposing the U.S.' unilateral bullying actions, such as imposing tariffs.”

Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide added on to Jiakun's comments, saying the new U.S. tariffs may violate NATO’s Article 2, which stresses the importance of economic cooperation among allies to avoid conflict.

“If you want a strong NATO, you should ensure that there is as much economic growth as possible in the NATO countries. That was the insight of those who established NATO, that economic cooperation would be good for the entire alliance,” Eide said during a visit to Brussels for a NATO meeting, according to the NRK broadcaster.

Other European leaders urged Trump to reconsider, publicly citing their close ties to the U.S. economy over the years, while complaining that this will cripple respective economies.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the new U.S. tariffs many reduce Poland’s GDP by 0.4%. He said it was “a severe and unpleasant blow, because it comes from the closest ally, but we will survive it.” The Polish-U.S. friendship, he added, “must also survive this test.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Thursday that his government will implement a $15.6 billion (14.1 billion euro) spending package to mitigate the effects of U.S. tariffs on the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy.

The Spanish leader called the tariffs “19th-century protectionism,” against which the European Union and Spain had to act proactively and diversify their economic ties with the rest of the world.

Sánchez also called for a negotiated solution with the U.S. “We’re once again asking President Trump to reconsider, to sit down at the negotiating table with the European Union and also with the rest of the world.”

However, European countries won't be taking this lying down, according to the AP. While many countries realize they won't damage U.S. companies by adding tariffs to product exports, so they're targetting tech companies instead.

The EU response, likely to be ready by the end of April, includes the option of a tax on U.S. digital giants, said French government spokesperson Sophie Primas.

“We’re going to target the services, for example, digital services which are not being taxed for now and could be, the GAFAM for example,” she said on French radio RTL. That’s a colloquial acronym for Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft.