Europe must "be prepared" for potential trade tariffs from newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump, the president of the European Central Bank told CNBC on Wednesday. After his inauguration, Trump told reporters that the EU has been "very,

EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič extended an olive branch to Washington on Wednesday, two days after the U.S. president was sworn in. He told POLITICO that Brussels was ready to talk with the new Washington administration — despite the repeated threats that Trump has made to hit the 27-nation bloc with tariffs.

Any EU offer to buy more US goods should be backed up by a credible threat to retaliate robustly if Trump goes ahead with tariffs. If there is a full-blown trade war, the EU will have retaliatory tariffs ready: a “negative list” of US products drafted to mirror Trump’s proposed tariffs could serve as a deterrent.