US President Donald Trump threatens 50% tariffs on all imports from the European Union, as well as 25% Apple products, unless it is made in the US.
The president announced his intentions for social media on Friday.
“Our discussion with them is not going anywhere!” Trump posted to the Society of Truth. “Therefore, we are recommending a 50% straight tariff on the European Union from June 1, 2025. If the product is constructed or manufactured in the US, there are no customs duties.”
The Republican president’s proposal sees high import taxes on goods from longtime US ally EU. This is a geopolitical rival that reduced this month’s tariffs to 30% this month, allowing Washington and Beijing to negotiate.
Trump is upset by the lack of progress in trade talks with the EU. This proposes mutually reducing tariffs to zero, despite the president’s publicly insisting on maintaining a 10% baseline tax on most imports.
Trump’s aide said his tariff goal is to isolate China and strike a new deal with allies, but the president’s tariff threat undermines the logic of those claims. Not only could the EU face higher tariffs than China, but the bloc of member states could have been better by establishing a broad front with China and other countries against Trump’s trade policy, German economist Marcel Flatzschel said.
“The EU Commission and Germany’s strategy in the trade dispute with Trump are a complete failure,” Flasher, head of the German Institute of Economic Studies, said of X.
Apple’s Ultimate
Trump’s Post was preceded by an import tax threat on Apple due to plans to continue manufacturing iPhones in Asia. Apple is currently joining the White House crosshairs as it seeks to deal with the uncertainty and inflationary pressures unlocked by his tariffs on Amazon, Walmart and other major US companies.
“I have informed Tim Cook a long time ago that I expect iPhones for sale in the United States to be manufactured and built in the United States, not in India or elsewhere,” Trump writes of the Truth Society. “If not, Apple will have to pay at least 25% of the customs duties to the US.”
Trump’s statement is important in that it suggests that the company itself will bear the tariff price, contradicts previous claims as it has deployed a series of aggressive tariffs over the past few months that foreign countries will bear the cost of import taxes. In general, importers pay customs duties, and costs are often passed to consumers in the form of higher prices.
In response to Trump’s tariffs on China, Apple CEO Tim Cook said earlier this month that most iPhones sold in the US during the current financial quarter come from India, while iPads and other devices are imported from Vietnam. After Trump rolled out tariffs in April, analysts estimated that if made in the US, the cost of a $1,200 iPhone could rise between $1,500 and $3,500.
“The pressure from the Trump administration at Apple to build iPhone production in the US is the non-starter for the Cupertino and is the price range for the iPhone, which is converted to a $3,500 iPhone price.
Trump previously created exemptions for electronic devices imported from China to support companies such as Apple. He also threatened individually a 25% import tax on computer chips and was able to rewrite the fee schedule in a way that allowed Apple products to be exposed to tax.
Until recently, the US president repeatedly boasted about the $500 million that Apple pledged domestic investments in February as part of its development of artificial intelligence technology. However, he publicly opposed the company while speaking in Qatar last week.
“I had a bit of a problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump told the audience. “I told him, “My friend, I treated you very well. You’re here for $500 billion, and now I can hear you build all over India. I don’t want to build you in India.”
Global response
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadefal said the EU executive committee has full support from his country to “maintain access to the US market.”
“I don’t think such tariffs will be useful to anyone, but they will only lead to economic development that both markets are struggling,” Wadefl said in Berlin. “So we’re still relying on negotiations, supporting the European Commission, defending Europe and the European market, while simultaneously working to persuade us in the US.”
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Shoeoff said he hopes a gentle and robust response to the announcement of new US trade tariffs from the EU.
In response to the news, Volvo Car CEO Hakan Samuelson said tariffs will increase consumer prices. In an interview with Reuters, he said the tariffs would limit the ability of Volvo vehicles to sell Belgian-made EX30 electric vehicles in the United States.
Investors are being shaken up on the move. As of 10:30am (14:30 GMT) in New York, the Dow had a 0.6% drop, the high-tech Nasdaq fell by 1%, and the S&P 500 fell by 0.8%. Apple has fallen 2.3% since the market approached yesterday.
SAP, the most valuable company in Europe, has fallen 1.8% since the end of yesterday. Novo Nordisk, the Danish drug giant and maker of the hit drug Ozempic, Europe’s second-highest value company, has fallen by 1% in its news.
Due to market capitalization, stocks in France’s largest listed companies, LVMH and Hermes, fell by about 3% and 4%, respectively.
Source link
