22 January 2025 – In the fight for the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the EU, the Gerber Group once again spoke out in the European Parliament today. And President Trump is threatening Europe with new punitive tariffs due to Europe’s high trade deficit.
Steel and stainless steel: More support for SMEs in the EU urged
Thorsten Gerber, CEO of the Gerber Group, once again spoke up for the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU in the European Parliament today, Wednesday. The fight for the competitiveness of SMEs centred on the challenges facing the metalworking industry as a result of the machinations of the European steel lobby EUROFER and how these could be countered.
EU parliamentarians more open to the concerns of SMEs
More and more EU parliamentarians are showing themselves to be open to the concerns of SMEs and their worries about bureaucratic hurdles, exploding costs and overbearing EU market protection measures, which have already destroyed the competitiveness of SMEs in many cases.
Thorsten Gerber said today: ‘It is unacceptable that the economic basis of the EU in the form of its millions of small and medium-sized enterprises should be sacrificed for a few large multinational corporations. He continued: ‘This no longer has anything to do with a fair level playing field and must stop immediately.’
Tomorrow, Thursday, the Gerber Group will once again stand up for SMEs and their competitiveness in the European Parliament.
President Trump threatens Europe with new tariffs
Due to the high trade deficit between the two major economic areas, Donald Trump has threatened the European Union with possible new tariffs from 1 February to counter this imbalance.
EU response so far not very constructive
The reaction of EU Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, Valdis Dombrovskis, to the possible introduction of new US tariffs on European goods has regrettably fallen into the threat of ‘If there is a need to defend our economic interests we will respond in a proportionate way,’ as Valdis Dombrovskis is reported to have told US broadcaster CNBC on Wednesday.
Another negative example of how the European Commission only knows one response to tariffs on goods from Europe, instead of specifically looking for practicable and pro-competitive solutions and entering into constructive talks with the Trump administration.
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