What President Donald Trump announced Friday on Truth Social may mark the sharpest escalation yet in transatlantic trade tensions: a sweeping 50% tariff on all European Union imports starting June 1, blaming a record U.S.-EU trade deficit and what he called “unfair and unjustified” barriers to American goods.
Trump said the EU had been “very difficult to deal with,” referencing trade deficits of over $250 billion a year and blaming Europe for high corporate penalties, value-added taxes, monetary manipulation and aggressive lawsuits against American companies.
He indicated that unless goods are produced in the U.S., they should face tariffs of 50%, calling it “totally unacceptable” that such deficits persist.