The European Union is prepared to react to any renewed trade tensions with the United States that may emerge under President-elect Donald Trump's second administration, the EU's ambassador to the U.S.

Donald Trump’s US election victory is a “wake-up call” for Europe to slash red tape and boost defence spending, three of the bloc’s top officials have warned.

Speaking to Radio Schuman, German socialist MEP Bernd Lange says that the EU has a whole range of measures to counter Donald Trump's trade policy towards the EU.

The European Union should seek constructive engagement on trade with the incoming Trump administration, but be ready to hit back in a coordinated way at the United States if it imposes new tariffs on the 27-nation bloc,

The layman’s narrative of the 1930s is that America’s Smoot-Hawley tariffs set off a beggar-thy-neighbour spiral and caused the Great Depression. It is not true.

Some European Union member states want the bloc to engage more urgently with Donald Trump’s transition team as they hope to stave off disruption and worsening tensions with its largest trading partner.