Pelosi Says Trump's Tariffs on EU A Mistake, Misses Chance to Pressure China

“I thought one of the biggest opportunities was for the US and the EU to join together - the biggest market in the world, the two combined - and use that leverage in negotiations with the Chinese,” Pelosi told an audience at the London School of Economics on Monday, World News reported.

“So I wasn’t pleased when the President put tariffs on the EU because you kind of started to weaken that strength vis-a-vis China,” she said.

Pelosi's comments come a week after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on 11 billion dollars worth of goods from the EU, citing the harm that the bloc's subsidies have allegedly inflicted on the country. Trump has also described the EU as “a foe” in trade, referring to its trade surplus with the US as a risk to the American economy.

Last May, Trump imposed steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from several countries, including most prominently from EU member states. In retaliation, the EU slapped tariffs on American goods such as tobacco and motorcycles June last year. Trump responded by threatening to impose tariffs of up to 25 percent on European auto imports, which would have a far greater impact on the European economy.

The rift with the EU comes as the US has also imposed heavy tariffs on Chinese imports for what Trump has described as China's "unfair" trade policies, prompting Beijing to impose its own retaliatory tariffs.

Several rounds of talks to end the months-long "trade war" have so far been held between Washington and Beijing. It is still not clear whether the two sides have approached a deal, according to the latest reports.

On Monday, Trump said he believed the United States would emerge from its trade dispute with China as a winner, no matter what happens as a result of the continued negotiations over a trade deal.

“We’re going to win either way. We either win by getting a deal or we win by not getting a deal,” Trump stated during a visit to a business roundtable in Burnsville, Minnesota.

Earlier on Monday, Reuters reported that the US has tempered demands that China curbs its industrial subsidies as a condition for a trade deal after strong resistance from Beijing, citing two sources briefed on the discussions.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said earlier on Monday that trade negotiators are making a lot of progress. He told Fox Business Network there is more work to do, including finding an agreement on a means to enforce the future deal.

The world’s two biggest economies are nine months into a trade war after Trump slapped tariffs on $250 billion worth of imports of Chinese goods, citing concerns that Chinese trade practices were hurting American companies while demanding an adjustment to the terms of trade between the two countries. The US president has also been threatening to impose tariffs on the nearly $267 billion worth of remaining Chinese imports if Beijing fails to address US demands. China, in return, responded with tariffs targeting US goods.

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