site.btaPrices of US Goods in Bulgaria May Rise as Result of US-EU Trade War

Sofia, June 11 (BTA) - Prices of US goods in Bulgaria may rise as a result of a trade war between the US and the EU, Prof. Tatyana Houbenova, Chairperson of the Union of Economists in Bulgaria (UEB), told a BTA-hosted news conference on Monday. According to Houbenova, the tariffs which the EU will impose on some products are unlikely to have a very big impact but this is something that remains to be seen.

"Over the short term, we are witnessing a dramatic change and a worsening of the political relations between the big capitalist countries following the US decision to impose a 25 per cent tariff on steel imports and a 10 per cent tariff on aluminium," the analyst said. She recalled that the EU and Canada took reciprocal measures, and China is also ready to impose tariffs. "There is a major surge of economic nationalism in international relations," she concluded.

The events during the G7 meeting did not come as a surprise. World trade rules are to be re-negotiated within the World Trade Organization, Houbenova said.

"The Trump administration is following up a policy of isolationism but it is doomed to fail because it will increase unemployment in the US and the political support for President Trump will wane," UEB's Prof. Stefan Stefanov said.