Trump threatens EU with 25% tariffs
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The news: US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all imports from the EU, saying the bloc “was formed to screw the United States.”
Speaking at the first cabinet meeting of his second term, Trump said a decision had been made and would be announced “very soon”.
At the meeting, he also said 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico – which were scheduled to take effect next week – would now take effect on 2 April. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested fentanyl-related conditions could still influence that timeline.
The context: Trump has long criticised trade relationships with the EU, Canada and Mexico – all of which are longstanding US allies – arguing they take advantage of their relationship with the world’s largest economy.
While he had promised to impose tariffs on these countries from day one of his second term, only those on China have taken effect. French President Emmanuel Macron, who met Trump in Washington this week, had appeared confident he had persuaded him to avoid a trade dispute with the EU and focus on China instead.
What they said: “We have made a decision and we’ll be announcing it very soon,” Trump said when questioned about his planned EU tariffs. “It’ll be 25 per cent generally speaking, and that will be on cars and all other things.”
“They’ve really taken advantage of us in a different way. They don’t accept our cars. They don’t accept essentially our farm products, they use all sorts of reasons why not,” he said.
“Let’s be honest, the European Union was formed in order to screw the United States. That’s the purpose of it. And they’ve done a good job of it,” he added.
The European Union has said it sees no justification for the imposition of tariffs and that they plan to retaliate if the US imposes the levies.
The sources: FT, The Guardian
