Brussels to ‘hit back swiftly’ if Trump imposes anti-EU trade measures

The EU warned on Monday that it is ready to hit back “swiftly” if US President Donald Trump takes unfair trade measures against the 28-nation bloc, AP said. The warning comes less than 24 hours after Trump expressed his annoyance with EU trade policy. Trump said in a British television interview on Sunday that “the EU has been very, very unfair to the US, and I think it’ll turn out to be very much to their detriment.” EU chief spokesperson Margaritis Schinas said Monday that “the EU stands ready to react swiftly and appropriately in case our exports are affected by any restrictive trade measure from the US.” While trade has “to be open and fair it also has to be rules-based,” Schinas added. The issues also came to the fore during last week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.