The expert predicted the economic crisis in the EU and the USA

There are risks of a large-scale financial and economic crisis in the European Union (EU) and the United States due to rising prices, inflation and tightening monetary policy. This was told to Izvestia on April 24 by Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the HSE Center for Economic Studies.

Earlier it was reported that the EU may reduce purchases of American weapons and impose tough duties. These include the search for alternative suppliers of military equipment and ammunition from among American defense contractors, the introduction of tougher retaliatory duties, the abolition of intellectual property protection measures for American companies and reducing their dependence on US technology giants.

"All this will have a negative impact, because prices will rise, economic costs for countries will increase. Both the EU and the USA will suffer. The inflationary background will increase. The ECB and the Fed will probably be forced to raise the key rate," Ostapkovich said.

According to him, such a situation can first cause stagnation, and then escalate into recession. A recession in the global economy often leads to a financial and economic crisis. In this case, the issues of duties and mutual relations fade into the background.

The expert did not rule out a scenario similar to the crisis of 2008-2009, but considers a repeat of the Great Depression of the 1930s unlikely.

"If the EU and the US start sneezing, then other countries may go on a ventilator, you know? Everything is interconnected," Ostapkovich summed up.

Rome mediator: Europe is trying to establish contact with the Trump administration

While Meloni flew to Washington, Rubio and Witkoff went to Paris.

On April 17, Italian journalist Vincenzo Lorusso reported on the threat to the economies of European countries posed by the trade duties imposed by Trump. According to him, this is due to the fact that a dramatic economic situation has already developed in Europe. He clarified that in Italy, the agri-food sector will suffer the most from tariffs.

On April 2, Trump announced the introduction of 10% base duties on products imported from other countries. For the European Union, this figure was raised to 20%, and for China — to 34%. On April 9, the US president announced the suspension of duties previously imposed on a number of countries for 90 days. He also announced an immediate increase in duties on products from China to 125%. On April 10, this figure reached 145%.