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The European Commission downgraded its growth forecasts for the eurozone in 2018 due to trade tensions between the US and the EU
In its summer forecast, the EU executive table on a growth of 2.1% this year, and no more than 2.3% as advanced on May 3, in its spring badessment.
By contrast for 2019, the European Commission has maintained its forecast at 2, 0%, exactly the same as last May
"We expect a continued expansion in 2018 and 2019, although a further escalation of protectionist measures is a clear downside risk," commented the Commissioner. Minister for Economic Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, quoted in a statement.
"Trade wars produce no winners, only damage," he warned.
June 1, US President Donald Trump has imposed customs duties on steel and European aluminum, causing Brussels to introduce additional tariffs on a series of typically American products in retaliation.
And it threatened to tap even stronger, by imposing tariffs on imports of European automobiles, which would hit Germany, the largest economy in the euro zone and a major exporter of cars in the United States, in the first place.
For Germany, moreover, the European Commission has lowered its forecast for 2018 at 1.9%, while still predicting 2.3% in May. For 2019, it also expects 1.9% against 2.1%.
The European Commission has also pointed to "political uncertainties in a number of EU countries", which pose a risk to the economic growth of the area.
The European executive notes not only the dangers that may arise from the difficult negotiations on the exit of the United Kingdom from the EU, scheduled for late March 2019, but also the political situation in Italy.
inflation in the euro zone, the European Commission has slightly raised its forecasts, now expecting prices to rise by 1.7% in 2018, as in 2019, which is close to the target set by the ECB, which is close to 2%.
On May 3, it forecast 1.5% for this year and 1.6% for next year.
Industrial production in the euro zone rebounded in May, up 1.3% compared to April, also announced Thursday the European Statistical Office Eurostat.
The rise is stronger than that expected by badysts surveyed by the financial services provider Factset who expected a 1.1% increase . Year on year, it rose 2.4% in May in the 19 countries that adopted the single currency. Analysts were expecting an increase of 2.2%
The European Statistical Office Eurostat has a
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