Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that on Tuesday he will meet with representatives of the automotive industry. This meeting is meant to be a response to the new tariffs introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump. However, Tusk’s move has drawn criticism from Law and Justice (PiS) Members of the European Parliament, who claim that his real motive is not to help businesses but to further his own political goals.
Since Wednesday, an executive order signed by President Trump has been in effect, imposing “reciprocal tariffs” of at least 10 percent on goods imported to the United States from abroad. The U.S. had already imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum; overnight, duties on cars also went into force.
This development prompted a reaction from the Polish prime minister.
“On Tuesday, I invited representatives of Poland’s automotive industry for talks. The topic: the situation in the sector after the U.S. introduced new tariffs,”
Donald Tusk wrote on the platform X.
A Late Reaction
Tusk’s announcement immediately sparked a response from opposition MEPs. One of them, Arkadiusz Mularczyk, noted that the U.S. tariffs had been discussed for months.
“On Tuesday? These tariffs were announced a long time ago, yet the prime minister is only now inviting the industry to talks? Instead of planning ahead and protecting Poland’s interests, he offers last-minute gestures and the appearance of action,”
Mularczyk remarked.
Not About Helping—But Attacking
Another MEP, Zbigniew Kuźmiuk, pointed to a different aspect of Tusk’s strategy.
“If you genuinely cared about the automotive sector, then as prime minister of a country that currently presides over the Council of the European Union, you would have called a meeting of that Council. The conclusion of such a session should have been for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to begin immediate negotiations with the U.S. administration on a more balanced EU-U.S. trade relationship,”
Kuźmiuk stated.
He also stressed that the EU has long enjoyed a substantial trade surplus with the U.S., which in 2024 amounted to more than 198 billion euros.
Kuźmiuk believes that Tusk’s real goal is not supporting Polish business:
“It’s evident that you’re not trying to help the automotive industry in Poland; you’re aiming to attack the Trump administration, using it to score political points both in Poland and within the EU.”
“This Is a Circus”
Former Prime Minister Beata Szydło also argues that Tusk’s motives have little to do with protecting Polish companies. She suggested that if he truly cared about these businesses, he would have spoken out under different circumstances.
“Tusk ignores the ongoing closure of car plants in Poland and across the EU because of the Green Deal. He doesn’t see the factories shutting down and workers being laid off, since he won’t dare criticize the European Commission,”
she said.
“Yet now he wants to talk to automotive representatives about U.S. car tariffs. This is a circus,”
Szydło concluded.