Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has announced plans to protect the country’s jobs and manufacturing following the trade deal between the United States and the European Union. The agreement, which includes a 15% tariff on cars, opens new tabs on the bloc’s exports to the United States. Hungary’s total exports to the EU were worth around $11 billion a year. Orban said Hungary must draw up two action plans: one to protect jobs and ensure no manufacturing plants are shut down due to the tariffs. The EU’s worst inflationary surge following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has led to a closely-fought election next year. Hungary’s government has not published an estimate about the tariffs’ impact on growth, but Romania’s largest employers’ association, Concordia, estimates the tariffs could shave up to 0.2% off the country’s growth. The Czech finance ministry said tariffs would slow expansion there by 0.2 percentage points for the remainder of the year. For Slovakia, Societe Generale economists have estimated the tariff impact at 0.87% of gross domestic product. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland, the EU’s largest economy outside the euro zone, could lose around 8 billion zlotys ($2.14 billion) due to the new U.S. import tariffs.
The Hungary government is set to develop strategies to safeguard jobs following the US-EU trade agreement. Sac 859
