Why von der Leyen expects Trump’s tariffs to help the EU strike trade deals

Good morning. The EU is prepared to deploy its most powerful trade measures and impose levies on US digital companies if a 90-day negotiation window fails to reach a deal that would reduce Donald Trump’s wave of tariffs against Europe, Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times in an interview.

While she wants a “completely balanced” outcome with Trump, the European Commission president said she was also drawing up a range of retaliation measures should the talks break down.

Here, we have more from von der Leyen on the newfound enthusiasm for global trade deals sparked by Trump’s turmoil, and our Rome reporter has a dispatch on Italy’s fresh push to ship migrants to Albania.

Friends with benefits

It’s not just Donald Trump whose phone is ringing off the hook with foreign leaders begging for a trade deal: Ursula von der Leyen reckons she’s getting just as many calls.

“And here is what is really good: They know that we know how to do good and fair deals,” the European Commission president told the FT. “We are known for predictability and reliability.”

Context: The EU has free trade agreements with 74 partner countries. US President Trump has caused global trade chaos in recent weeks with unexpected decisions to impose, increase and suspend tariffs on trading partners.

Von der Leyen said the UAE wanted to conclude a trade deal with the EU within “months”, alongside ongoing negotiations with Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, India and others.

“They all want to have a trade agreement with us,” she said. “The goal is to have more trade deals and to understand where we can work together . . . and come back to the principle that trade is a vehicle for prosperity.”

“So many countries around the world [want] to work closer with us together, to balance the system and to have free trade really competing on quality and not around tariffs,” she said.

Von der Leyen said that alongside increasing the enthusiasm of potential partners to strike new deals, the turmoil caused by Trump had also increased the political will inside the EU to agree them. The commission negotiates trade deals with the blessing of the bloc’s 27 member states, which must approve them on a majority basis.

“If you look at the mid- and long-term, we have to do everything possible to stabilise the situation, to give certainty, to be really cool-headed and use the momentum,” she said. “For us, what counts is the long game.”

“Diversifying our trade means opening business opportunities for our companies. It’s important for us,” von der Leyen added. “If you look at the [EU’s] global trade, 13 per cent of the trade is with the United States. That also means 87 per cent of trade is beyond the United States.”

Chart du jour: Tourist curse

As European cities struggle to deal with a post-pandemic resurgence of mass tourism, short-term letting platforms such as Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com are once again in the line of fire.

Closing time

Italy is preparing to send another group of migrants to asylum centres in Albania, in a fresh bid to revive the expensive facilities which have been in disuse due to legal difficulties, writes Giuliana Ricozzi.

Context: The Italian government in 2023 signed a deal with Tirana to process asylum seekers rescued in the Mediterranean at centres built in Albania, as part of plans to curb immigration. But courts have blocked the plans, and the European Court of Justice will decide in the following months whether the centres can be used for such purposes.

While awaiting the verdict, Italy’s government decided to shake off the dust and convert the centres into hubs to hold rejected asylum seekers who are already in closed facilities in Italy. Legally, this might be easier than bringing asylum seekers — whose claims still need to be assessed — to Albania, as they are potentially more vulnerable.

A new group of 40 migrants is expected to depart from the Adriatic port of Brindisi this morning, likely arriving in Albania this afternoon, a spokesperson for the interior ministry said.

They could be detained in the centres for up to 18 months while awaiting deportation to their home countries, they added. For repatriation, they must be returned to Italy first, and also if they fail to be repatriated, the spokesperson said.

The repatriation process is generally slow and difficult due to the few bilateral agreements Italy has with the concerned home countries.

Since the beginning of the year, around 11,000 migrants have reached Italian shores, down from 16,000 over the same period last year.

What to watch today

1. Meeting of Ukraine Defence Contact Group at Nato’s headquarters.

2. Informal meeting of EU finance ministers in Warsaw.

Now read these

• RIP Schwarze Null: Once a staunch defender of fiscal conservatism, Germany has embarked on a massive debt-fuelled spending programme.

• Not an island: Flabbergasted to find itself among the top 10 countries on Trump’s list of tariffs, Switzerland is turning to the EU.

• Expensive brew: The CEO of Italian coffee roaster Lavazza has warned that coffee prices may have reached the “limit” of what consumers are willing to pay.