President Donald Trump is renewing his tariff threats against the European Union, saying he’ll implement 50-percent duties on goods made in the 27-nation trade bloc.
“The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with,” the Commander in Chief Truthed early Friday morning.
He accused the EU of perpetuating high trade barriers, value-added taxes (VAT), corporate penalties, non-monetary trade barriers, monetary manipulations, and “unfair and unjustified” lawsuits against American corporations, among other grievances.
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These actions have led to a trade deficit with the U.S. of over $250 million, the president said—calling the number “totally unacceptable.” Trump also said that discussions with leaders “are going nowhere,” and therefore, he’s recommending that an across-the-board 50-percent duty be implemented on June 1. The proposed duty rate is significantly higher than the 20 percent announced on “Liberation Day” in April.
French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin took to X, writing, “We are sticking to our position: de-escalation, but ready to respond.” Meanwhile, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said the announcement from the White House was “enormously disappointing.”
Minutes earlier, Trump also went after Apple—a frequent target of his tirades—for the company’s perceived failure of not manufacturing its electronics stateside. “I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,” he wrote, adding that he plans to levy duties of 25 percent on Apple products.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared to back up the president’s EU tariff saber-rattling during an appearance on Fox News Friday morning. “EU proposals have not been of the same quality that we’ve seen from our other important trading partners,” he explained. “I’m not going to negotiate on TV, but I would hope that this would light a fire under the EU,” he added, Bessent said, saying that the bloc “has a collective action problem.”
Notably, the Treasury lead’s comments come just one day after he concluded meetings with G7 leaders including European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis in Alberta, Canada. Finance and central bank officials from the Group of Seven democracies—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the U.S.—came together with the stated goal of rectifying the “excessive imbalances” in the global economy. The meeting set the stage for a G7 summit will be held in the Canadian Rocky Mountain town of Kananaskis on June 15.
Trump’s early-morning social-media missive caused markets to shudder. The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.2 percent, or 90 points, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.5 percent.
Meanwhile, Apple stock tumbled 2.4 percent—nearly 5 points—soon after the president’s targeted tariff threat.
