President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen says a "global race to the bottom" via economic tariffs must be avoided.
The EU chief was speaking on day one of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, just one day after Donald Trump's inauguration as the 47th President of the United States.
Trump wants to reverse the trade deficit between the US and the EU and has threatened the imposition of tariffs to do so.
"As [geopolitical] competition intensifies, we will likely continue to see frequent use of economic tools, such as sanctions, export controls and tariffs, that are intended to safeguard economic and national security," Von der Leyen said in her speech.
"But it is important that we balance the imperative to safeguard our security against our opportunity to innovate and enhance our prosperity," she explained. "In this spirit, we will need to work together to avoid a global race to the bottom. Because it is in no one's interest, to break the bonds in the global economy. Rather we need to modernise the rules to sustain our ability to produce mutual gain for our citizens.
'Impossible' to ignore climate change
Having spent less than 24 hours in office, Trump has already signed a series of contentious executive orders such as an American withdrawal from the 2017 Paris Climate Agreement. The US is the second largest polluter in the world after China and Greenpeace says the order is "denying the reality" of climate change.
Von der Leyen says the EU will stick to the agreement and continue to work with all nations that want to stop global warming.
"The Paris Agreement remains the best hope for all of humanity," she said. "So Europe will continue on that course, and continue to work with all nations that want to protect nature and stop global warming."
US President Donald Trump signs executive orders on the first day of his second term. Credit: Belga
She stressed that it is "impossible" to "ignore" the impact of climate change, referring to the recent fires in Los Angeles.
"All continents will have to accelerate the transition to zero emissions and tackle the growing burden of climate change."
The Paris Climate Agreement was concluded in the French capital at the end of 2015 within the framework of the United Nations. The participating member states pledge to make efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times.
