Donald Trump’s decisions to suspend military aid to Ukraine and impose tariffs on the US’s top trading partners have reverberated across the globe, as Europe seeks to shore up Kyiv and China, Canada and Mexico respond to the new import duties.
Amid efforts to step into the gap left by Washington, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen proposed a €150bn defence procurement loan package to EU governments on Tuesday, which she said could provide “immediate” support to Ukraine.
The measure would pump money into the EU defence industry rather than provide direct military aid to Kyiv, which member state Hungary has vowed to block.
Governments and markets are also reacting to Trump’s other big decision this week, to impose an additional new tariff of 10 per cent on imports from China, and duties of 25 per cent on those from Canada and Mexico.
On Tuesday, Beijing announced countermeasures of 10 to 15 per cent on US agricultural goods. Canada has also unveiled tariffs on $107bn of US imports.
As Mexico prepared its response, Asian and European markets followed US stocks down on fears of the tariffs’ broader economic impact.
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