During a press conference held on April 8, acting president Ilie Bolojan warned that Romania could face significant economic headwinds as a result of transatlantic trade disputes, especially in sectors like aluminum, pharmaceuticals, and component manufacturing.
He emphasized the knock-on effects of Germany’s reduced exports to the US and noted that Romania’s integration into European value chains could expose it to further vulnerabilities.
Bolojan called for restraint and continued negotiations between the EU and the US, arguing that retaliatory tariffs could escalate inflation and recession risks. He also stressed the importance of strengthening Romania’s industrial base and competitiveness in the face of external shocks.
The key elements of president Ilie Bolojan’s press conference:
In a country like Romania, with large deficits, any kind of recession or negative impact on the economy can have very harsh effects.
It is necessary to act both at the European and national levels to achieve a more competitive economy.
Also, through the industrial policies we can support, Romania must encourage industrial production within the country and the integration of Romanian companies into global value chains at a higher level.
Romania will be affected in the aluminum sector, the pharmaceutical industry mainly, and in the area of components that include steel and aluminium.
There will be a significant indirect effect – since the German economy accounts for a third of the European Union’s exports to the United States, Romanian companies integrated into these value chains will very likely receive fewer orders, leading to a slowdown in their activity.
Foreign investment, already modest in Romania recently, will decrease until the situation stabilizes.
Romania believes that the retaliatory measures the European Union might establish in the coming period would increase the costs of escalation, which could be even greater for our economy because tariffs on top of tariffs mean inflation, reduced purchasing power, and the risk of an economic recession.
On April 9, the EU Committee on Trade Barriers will approve a first response to the tariff measures imposed by the United States. The first set of tariffs will be a countermeasure to the steps taken by the US administration, with the EU mainly taxing agricultural food products coming from the United States, with tariffs ranging from 10% to 25%.
Romania was also interested in ensuring that imports related to the nuclear sector into the European Union are not included in this sanctions package because we have a major contract for the nuclear reactors at Cernavodă 3 and 4. So, any retaliatory action would mean additional costs that would have to be paid.
Romania will support the continuation of negotiations so that the two large markets – the EU and the US – can find solutions that allow economic flows to continue.
iulian@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Presidency.ro)
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