US President Donald Trump has threatened a 50% tariff on EU goods from 1 June after growing tired with negotiations with Brussels.
Writing on Truth Social this afternoon, Trump said that the bloc had been "formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on trade" and that EU negotiators had been "very difficult to deal with."
He complained that "powerful" EU monetary and non-monetary trade barriers, VAT, "ridiculous" corporate penalties, "monetary manipulations," and "unfair and unjustified lawsuits against American companies" had led to an "unacceptable" trade deficit for the US of $250m per year.
"Our discussions with them are going nowhere," Trump said before recommending a straight 50% tariff on EU goods from next Sunday.
He also threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Apple for any iPhones sold, but not manufactured, in the US. Some 60m smartphones are sold in the US every year.
"I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else," Trump said in a separate post.
"If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the US."
At present EU goods entering the US are subject to the universal 10% tariff that came into effect on 5 April, while car and auto parts are subject to a 25% tax at the US border.
The additional 20% tariff on European goods announced on 2 April was 'paused' for 90 days the following week , and is due to come back into effect in early July.
The major European indexes are trading down following the announcement. The CAC 40 in Paris fell around 2.3% while the DAX in Frankfurt has declined 2.2%, and the ISEQ 20 in Dublin is down 1.9%.
S&P 500 futures lost 1.5% in pre-market activity, and Apple stocks fell 3.5% before the bell, along with shares in other tech bellweathers.
Photo: US President Donald Trump speaks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen prior to their meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2020. (Pic: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
