Most effective retaliation against Trump tariffs? A fair fossil fuel phase-out
For immediate release
The sweeping tariffs Trump announced on Wednesday 2 April risk locking in fossil fuel dependency and a cost-of-living crisis.
The sweeping tariffs Trump announced on Wednesday 2 April risk locking in fossil fuel dependency and a cost-of-living crisis. As countries around the world move to build pressure on Trump and respond with tariffs of their own they must avoid pandering to the United States by buying more LNG.
Allie Rosenbluth, U.S. Campaign Manager at Oil Change International responds:
“Trump’s tariffs will hurt working families first and foremost, raising costs for essentials we depend on and threatening to plunge the U.S. economy into a recession. Though Trump pretends to care about the cost of living for ordinary people, his real loyalties lie with his fossil fuel industry donors. If he actually cared about energy affordability, he would stop bullying other countries into buying more U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG), which boosts the fossil fuel industry’s profits, but results in increased prices for domestic consumers and pushes us further toward climate catastrophe. The one step countries can take to hit Trump where it hurts most is wean off their dependency on fossil fuels from the United States.”
Laurie van der Burg, Global Public Finance Campaign Manager at Oil Change international says:
“The worst thing governments can do in response to these tariffs is agree to more handouts for US LNG. The EU tried to appease Trump by signaling it was open to buying more US fossil fuels and Trump went ahead with tariffs anyway. The US is clearly not a reliable trade partner and increased investments in US LNG will not offer energy or economic security nor protection against Trump’s temper. The EU’s gas demand is already dropping significantly and it can bring it down even more. The real solution to energy affordability, security and economic stability is accelerating investments in renewables, energy efficiency and phasing out fossil fuels.”
Sources:
https://twitter.com/mj_sommers/status/1907570485983854852
https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-thought-it-had-a-way-past-trumps-tariffs-he-didnt-care