The Hungarian government will not vote in favor of EU retaliatory measures on US imports in the form of tariffs, according to Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó following a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Such measures would cause significant price increases. Instead, the government should negotiate a reduction in tariffs, Szijjártó suggested.
“Unfortunately, the EU has made a serious mistake and could have prevented the development of this situation. But now that it has not, the most important thing is that Brussels does not make the situation worse” the politician said. He emphasized that Budapest is determined to resolve the trade dispute with Washington through talks.
The introduction of retaliatory tariffs would only cause further difficulties and inflict more damage on the EU economy, warned Szijjártó. “Taxes on products delivered to Europe from the United States will lead to price hikes here in Europe, as the prices for imported goods will be higher due to the taxes” he warned.
According to Szijjártó, the EU Commission has compiled a list of hundreds of US products on which it wants to impose tariffs. If this happens, it would mean an 18 billion forint (43.9 million euros) price increase for Hungary. Among the affected products are contact lenses, cosmetics and plastic pipes used in construction.
“We want to protect the Hungarian people from these further price hikes” the politician emphasized.