Washington is using sanctions and tariffs to police the world, and the United States is increasingly taking aim at EU countries, hitting them twice as hard, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Thursday
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th November, 2019) Washington is using sanctions and tariffs to police the world, and the United States is increasingly taking aim at EU countries, hitting them twice as hard, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Thursday.
"Sanctions and tariffs have become the preferred tools of US foreign policy. Despite all the disagreements in US domestic politics, there is a bipartisan consensus in Washington [regarding the use of sanctions]. Figuratively speaking, the 'global policeman' withdraws to his headquarters. From there, he takes aim at his opponents and competitors in the world with the help of sanctions and tariffs. For us Europeans, it hits twice as hard," Maas said at a press conference held at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
The minister added that the European Union had also become a target of stringent US tariffs.
European states are "learning to defend themselves against extraterritorial sanctions," Maas added. He cited the establishment of the INSTEX financial system by France, Germany and the United Kingdom in January. The creation of INSTEX was "only the beginning," the minister remarked.
INSTEX was created as a means of continuing business operations with Iran and easing non-dollar trade in the wake of renewed US sanctions following Washington's withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in May of 2018.
