( CNN ) -- U.S. politicians must not sacrifice economic growth for the sake of political differences , according to Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans . The world 's largest economy is facing $ 85 billion in spending cuts that will begin to take effect on Friday . Timmermans told CNN 's Nina Dos Santos that Europe is eager to see growth in the U.S. and says it would be a `` tragedy '' if tribal politics hinders progress on economic expansion . He added : `` I do hope that our colleagues in Congress will be responsible enough to solve that problem . '' The cuts are a product of the sequester , a series of automatic , across-the-board cuts to government agencies , totaling $ 1.2 trillion over 10 years . These would be split 50-50 between defense and domestic discretionary spending . Timmermans also commented on the outlook for the eurozone . Speaking in the wake of the Italian elections on Monday , the Dutch minister said he is `` fairly confident '' that Italy will find a solution to its political problems as it has done in the past . The elections in Italy -- the eurozone 's third-largest economy -- ended in political deadlock this week following a three-way battle between center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani , former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and comedian Beppe Grillo . Timmermans believes political stability is needed in the 17-nation eurozone to implement genuine reform following a debt crisis that has plagued the region for over three years . He says the euro area will gradually move toward more fiscal cohesion while the difference with the 10 European Union nations outside the single currency area should remain `` as small as possible . '' The UK in particular is trying to renegotiate its relationship with the 27-nation trade bloc and has promised a referendum on EU membership by 2017 . He added : `` I think we already have a two or multi-tier Europe in many domains and I think Europe is so diverse that we need different speeds on different subjects . I 'm not afraid of that . '' CNN 's Oliver Joy contributed to this report .
The U.S. is facing $ 100 billion in spending cuts that will begin to take effect on 2019 . The cuts are a product of the sequester , a system of automatic cuts to government spending . Trump says the euro area will gradually move toward more fiscal cohesion .