Trump’s new threat to the EU: 50 per cent tariffs from 1 June

Brussels – Oops! He did it again. Donald Trump has dropped yet another explosive announcement, claiming he wants to introduce 50 per cent tariffs on goods entering the United States from the Twenty-Seven. The EU Commission, which is responsible for trade matters, refused to comment immediately on the US President’s move, waiting for direct talks with representatives from Washington.

The erratic White House tenant took the whole world by surprise early this afternoon (23 May) by posting on his personal social network, Truth, the announcement: “Our discussions with them are going nowhere! Therefore, I am recommending a 50 per cent direct tariff on the European Union, starting 1 June 2025.” Indiscriminate, on all products, unless they are “constructed or manufactured in the United States.” This is double the amount he had set—and then suspended for 90 days—at the beginning of April.

The move, which fell on Brussels like a bolt from the—partially overcast—blue, risks acting as a catalyst for an escalation of the trade war that, on both sides of the Atlantic, some are desperately trying to defuse before it is too late. But it is a race against time.

“The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of gaining an advantage over the United States in trade matters, has been very difficult to deal with,” Trump added. According to him, the “powerful trade barriers, VAT taxes, ridiculous corporate sanctions, non-monetary trade barriers, currency manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against American companies and more”, he denounced, “have led to a trade deficit with the United States of over $250 million per year, a number which is totally unacceptable.”

At the Berlaymont, everyone remains tight-lipped, probably dismayed at the unpredictability of the tycoon. “A telephone call will take place this afternoon” between Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and his US counterpart, Ambassador Jamieson Greer, the EU executive’s spokespersons confirmed to journalists. They point out laconically: “This call was planned already before President Trump’s announcement.” The interview is scheduled for 5.30 p.m., and until then, no “announcements or comments” are to be expected from the College.

In the meantime, the Old Continent’s stock exchanges collapse. Is the Donald‘s flight forward the final tombstone on Brussels’ negotiating strategy? For now, the soft line taken by the Commission (which has trade competence in the EU) does not seem to have yielded results, while threats from Washington are undermining growth in the Eurozone. Nor does the charm offensive of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has long sought to position herself as a bridge-builder to maintain transatlantic unity, seem to have borne fruit.

Currently, goods imported to the US from the EU are subject to a general 10 per cent tax (25 per cent for steel, aluminium and car parts), pending the ‘reciprocal duties‘ at 25 per cent threatened by Trump last month, which were mothballed until mid-July.