Hungary’s FM Szijjártó criticizes Biden, Brussels over US tariffs

Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has criticized both former US President Joe Biden and the European Union over Washington’s planned tariff increases on European goods, arguing that Brussels is partly to blame for the situation.

Following a meeting of EU economy and trade ministers in Warsaw, Szijjártó said the new tariffs had actually been initiated by the previous US administration, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

"European politicians are now talking about the possibility of new tariffs being imposed by the US president," he said.

"But I would like to highlight two things. Firstly, perhaps European politicians should not have been so quick to make blanket accusations and criticize the new President of the United States. And secondly, we must recognize that the US measures negatively affecting Europe were not initiated by Donald Trump, but by Joe Biden."

The EU has expressed concern over the proposed tariffs, which could impact European exports to the US. However, Szijjártó pointed out that protectionist policies supporting American companies were first introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic under Biden’s administration.

He argued that Brussels had failed to take action at the time, leaving Europe vulnerable to trade restrictions from Washington.

"The failure and incompetence of the European Commission over the past five years have led to a situation where the United States can now easily impose tariffs on the European Union," he said.

By Aghakazim Guliyev