Foreign Minister Accuses EU Commission of Failing Tariff Policy

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó called on the European Commission to hold talks with the United States on customs cooperation in Komárom on Tuesday.

At a joint press conference with the vice-president of the National Council of Slovakia, Peter Ziga, the Minister touched on cooperation between the European Union and the United States, saying that “once again it has been proven that Brussels is run by incompetent people (…) who are also suffering from a very serious Trump-phobia. And those two are the only two explanations for how they could have made such a mess of this,” he said.

“The fact of the matter is that Brussels has blatantly mismanaged customs cooperation with the United States. And this huge mistake by Brussels is posing very serious challenges to the European economy once again,” he added.

Péter Szijjártó underlined that instead, negotiations should have been held and automotive tariffs should have been reduced. “Europe applies a 10 percent tariff on the automotive industry against the United States, and the United States applies a 2.5 percent tariff against Europe. What should have been done?

We should have lowered European car tariffs to 2.5 percent against the US, and then we would have had a negotiating position, we could have negotiated, and there would not have been a decision across the ocean that could have resulted in higher tariffs,”

he explained.

❗️Brussels has seriously botched customs cooperation with the United States, said @FM_Szijjarto, calling on the @EU_Commission to begin immediate talks with Washington. At a joint press conference with Slovak National Council Vice President Peter Žiga, he criticized EU leadership… pic.twitter.com/BAtUvRs4Ol

— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) April 1, 2025

“Slovakia and Hungary are two countries that are the strongholds of the European car industry. Two countries where the car industry plays an important role,” he stressed.

We strongly urge the European Commission to get their act together and negotiate with the Americans, to negotiate on customs cooperation, because if they continue like this, it will be another blow to the European economy,”

he warned.

There is clear strategic alignment between Hungary and Slovakia. We are united in standing for peace in Ukraine, insisting on secure energy supply, & supporting European-American cooperation based on mutual respect. It was a pleasure to meet my friend Peter Žiga today in Komárom. pic.twitter.com/J0qkai9ueR

— Péter Szijjártó (@FM_Szijjarto) April 1, 2025

The politician was most certainly reacting to recent statements made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Commenting on the US decision to impose tariffs on European automotive exports, the President said that although they were open to negotiation, Europe did not start this confrontation, nor does it necessarily want to retaliate. “But if it is necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we will use it,” she warned.

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