Trump slams EU as being ‘solidly against us’ on trade

US president says barriers in European markets have made it nearly impossible for American companies to do business there.

U.S. President Donald Trump | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump criticized the European Union today for its trade policies, saying barriers in European markets have made it nearly impossible for U.S. companies to do business there, despite statistics showing otherwise.

“If you look at the European Union, it’s very solidly against us in terms of trade,” Trump said during a trip to West Virginia to talk about the new tax law. “It’s almost, we can’t even do business.”

He went on to say that the EU sends its cars and “everything” to the United States, “and they don’t want to take our product. So we can’t let that happen.”

In reality, the European Union was the top export market for the United States, taking in $501 billion in goods and services in 2016, according to data from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Imports from the EU were $592 billion the same year, leading to a $91 billion trade deficit. Most economists, however, say that trade imbalances are not bad for the economy and can be a result of robust economic growth.

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