The American President Donald Trump wants to introduce an import tariff of 50 percent on products from the European Union. The measure is to take effect on June 1.
According to Trump, it is difficult to negotiate with the EU. “The European Union, which was primarily established to benefit the United States in the area of trade, is very difficult to combat,” the American president writes on his social media channel Truth Social.
“Their trade barriers and other measures have led to a trade deficit with the US of more than 250 billion dollars per year, an amount that is completely unacceptable. Our talks with them lead to nothing!”
The European Commission has yet to respond to Trump’s measures. Prime Minister Dick Schoof said in an initial response that it is especially important to remain calm and prevent escalation.
Trump has started trade wars with virtually all trading partners since the beginning of his second term. He has mainly targeted China, but now also the EU. Yet it was mainly threats that meant that there are currently no import duties on European products.
Trump also Theatens Tariff Against Apple
Total exports from the EU to the United States amounted to approximately 500 billion euros last year. The three largest exporters were Germany (161 billion euros), Ireland (72 billion euros) and Italy (65 billion euros). Exports mainly consist of pharmaceutical products, cars, car parts, chemicals and aircraft.
Trump is convinced that import tariffs will lead to a resurrection of the American manufacturing industry. He further says that there are no tariffs on EU products that are produced in the US.
The president is also threatening a 25 percent tariff against Apple if the company does not make its iPhones in the US. The tech company makes most of its iPhones in China and currently has no smartphone factories in the US.