WASHINGTON, April 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed Monday that planned tariffs on European Union (EU) imports will go into effect as scheduled, demanding the bloc purchase more American energy to help reduce the U.S. trade deficit.

Trump rejected the EU's offer of "zero-for-zero" tariffs with the United States for industrial goods.

"No, it's not," Trump said in the Oval Office when asked if the deal, which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen floated earlier Monday, was enough.

Trump also said the EU should increase imports of U.S. oil and gas or face tariffs on their exports, including cars and machinery.

"The EU is committed to phasing out energy imports from Russia and diversifying our sources of supply," a European Union spokesperson responded. The EU currently sources 47 percent of its liquefied natural gas and 17 percent of its oil imports from the United States.

Trump's stance came amid escalating trade tensions globally. Economies worldwide have threatened trade wars as Trump's sweeping tariffs announced last week raised expectations of a global economic downturn and sharp price increases for many goods in the U.S. market.

"They don't take our cars, they don't take our farm products, they take almost nothing and we take everything from them. Millions of cars, tremendous amounts of food and farm products," Trump told journalists after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who tried to convince Trump to reduce the 17 percent tariffs on Israel imposed by Washington.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, the United States ran a 208.7 billion U.S. dollar goods trade deficit with the EU in 2023. Trump has consistently highlighted this imbalance as evidence that European nations take advantage of America.

To emphasize the seriousness of his position, Trump declared, "This is permanent." The president has rejected calls to pause or reconsider the tariffs despite ongoing negotiations.

The European Commission maintained it charges an average tariff of just 1 percent on U.S. products entering the EU market. It claimed U.S. authorities collected approximately 7 billion euros in tariffs on EU products in 2023 compared to the EU's 3 billion euros on U.S. goods.

European officials have already prepared countermeasures. Von der Leyen has announced that "as the United States is applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros," or about 28 billion U.S. dollars. Enditem

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