President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to add a tariff of 50% on goods from the European Union, citing a lack of progress in current trade negotiations.
“Their powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies, and more, have led to a Trade Deficit with the U.S. of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable,” he wrote in a Truth Social post Friday morning.
“Our discussions with them are going nowhere!” Trump wrote.
“Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.”
Olof Gill, a spokesperson for the European Commission, declined to comment immediately, saying he was waiting until after a call between Maroš Šefčovič, European Commissioner for Trade, and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Gill did not specify when the call is taking place.
The three major European stock market indexes fell sharply after Trump’s post: Germany’s DAX index and France’s CAC were 2.6% and 2.8% lower on the day respectively. London’s FTSE index was 1.3% down. US stock futures also tumbled, with futures tied to the Dow falling by more than 600 points, or 1.7%.
The tariff Trump is considering slapping on the EU is more than double the size of the 20% initial “reciprocal” tariff that was briefly in place in April before he swiftly paused those tariffs to allow for further negotiations.
The pause is set to expire on July 9. Since the pause, the only trade deal that’s been announced is with the United Kingdom.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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