President Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 50% tax on all imports from the European Union.
The warning against the EU came just hours before the two sides were set to have trade talks.
He said he wants to charge higher import taxes on goods from the EU, a longstanding US ally, than from China, a geopolitical rival that had its tariffs cut to 30% this month so Washington and Beijing could hold negotiations.
Last month, Trump announced a 20% tariff on most EU goods, but had halved it to 10% until 8 July to allow time for negotiations.
Trump’s complaints about Europe have focused on that uneven trade relationship, as the EU sells more goods to the US than it buys from America.
Trump was upset by the lack of progress in trade talks with the EU, which has proposed mutually cutting tariffs to zero even as the president has publicly insisted on preserving a baseline 10% tax on most imports, reports US news agencies.
“Our discussions with them are going nowhere!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. There is no Tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States.”
The core of Trump’s argument against the EU is that America runs a “totally unacceptable” trade deficit with the 27 member states. Countries run trade deficits when they import more goods than they export.
Shares in the US and EU fell on Friday after the latest threats, with the S&P 500 down about 0.7% and Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac 40 ending the day down more than 1.5%.
The EU is one of the US’s largest trading partners, sending more than $600bn in goods to the US last year and buying about $370bn worth, according to US government figures.
He blames this trade deficit on policies that he says are unfair to American companies, and he has specifically raised concerns about policies related to cars and agricultural products.
He targeted goods from the EU with a 20% tariff in his so-called Liberation Day announcement last month, which set off a flurry of negotiations between the US and countries around the world.
While some countries have taken a conciliatory approach, the EU, like China and Canada, has pushed back harder against the threats, saying it is prepared to retaliate by raising its own tariffs on US products.
Furthermore, Trump’st tariffs against Europe had been preceded by a threat of 25% of import taxes against Apple for its plans to continue making its iPhone in Asia.