The EU ‘stands ready to defend its interests’ amid a trade war with US President Donald Trump, who yesterday announced a 50 percent tariff on European imports.
Trump made the threat amid trade talks between Washington and Brussels, warning they were ‘going nowhere’ and that he could impose the tariffs next month.
The EU’s Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said the bloc will secure a trade deal with the US in ‘good faith’ guided by ‘mutual respect, not threats’.
It comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer unveiled plans for a UK-EU ‘reset’ this week, as he is warned not to ‘cosy up’ to Trump for fear of alienating Britain’s other allies.
As part of his deal, dubbed a ‘surrender’ by critics, Sir Keir agreed Britain would match the EU’s rulebook on food standards, also known as the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement (SPS).
He also announced EU trawlers would have access to Britain’s fishing waters for another 12 years and committed to a youth mobility scheme which could give tens of thousands of Europeans the right to live and work here.
After a call with US trade representative Jamieson Greer and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday, EU Trade CommissionerMr Sefcovic said the 27-member union was ‘fully engaged, committed to securing a deal that works for both’.
‘EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats,’ he wrote in a post on X. We stand ready to defend our interests.’
Trump made the threat amid trade talks between Washington and Brussels, warning they were ‘going nowhere’ and that he could impose the tariffs next month
The EU’s trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic (pictured) said the bloc will secure a trade deal with the US in ‘good faith’ guided by ‘mutual respect, not threats’
On Friday, Mr Trump claimed the talks with the EU were ‘going nowhere’ and said he was recommending that the 50 percent tariff rate come into effect on June 1.
Markets tumbled in the US, EU and UK following Mr Trump’s latest threats on tariffs.
About 30 minutes into trading on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was already down 1 percent.
The S&P 500 shed 1.2 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped by 1.5 percent.
Apple shares plunged by 2.5 percent in the wake of a separate threat by Trump to tariff iPhones not made in America.
Trump took to Truth Social on Friday morning to accuse the EU of being ‘very difficult to deal with’ and ‘taking advantage’ of the US.
He slammed estimates of a $250,000,000 trade deficit between the US and Europe every year, adding that it’s ‘totally unacceptable.’
‘The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with,’ he wrote.
Trump’s new threat comes weeks after he struck an emergency trade deal with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to ‘save’ the car industry
‘I am recommending a straight 50 per cent Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.’
He continued: ‘Our discussions with them are going nowhere!’ he proclaimed before threatening to slap a ‘straight 50 percent tariff’ on the EU.
‘There is no tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States,’ he added, giving European countries a week to transform their manufacturing processes.
‘If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S. Thank your for your attention to this matter!’
Trump has long stressed the revenue-raising prospects of tariffs, but such taxes, if imposed, would lead to substantial jumps in what ordinary Americans pay for European products, according to multiple studies.
Top EU exports to the US include pharmaceuticals, cars, machinery, petroleum oils, medical instruments, alcohols, car parts, electrical appliances, and chemicals.
All could see jumps if the June tariffs take effect, even as the White House has been trumpeting a drop in inflation on food, fuel and other goods.
Some fear that if the UK continues to move closer to the EU on matters such as trade, US tariffs could soon apply to British goods too.
Irish Premier Micheal Martin said the move by Mr Trump had come as a ‘surprise’, noting that the EU was engaging in ‘good faith’ with the United States to agree a deal on trade.
The president also announced he would be imposing a 25 percent tariff on all Apple iPhones manufactured outside the US. He warned that tariffs were also coming for other foreign-manufactured smartphones.
Mr Martin warned of the consequences if such levels of tariffs were imposed.
‘This is a surprise, because there was a pause until early July,’ he told RTE.
‘Everybody in the European Union is acting in good faith and wants a negotiated settlement with the United States.
‘The trading relationship between the European Union and the United States is the most dynamic and largest in the world, so tariffs of that height or scale would be extremely disruptive and would create even wider disruption across the global economy.’