U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he imposes tariffs on 30% of the EU and Mexico.
Trump announced letters posted on his social media accounts by two of the U.S.’s largest trading partners.
In a letter to the Mexican leader, Trump acknowledged that the country helped to stop undocumented immigrants and fentanyl from entering the United States.
But he said the country hasn’t done enough to stop North America from becoming a “Narco wandering playground.”
“Mexico has been helping me protect the border, but what Mexico has done is not enough,” Trump added.
In a letter to the EU, Trump said that the U.S. trade deficit is a national security threat.
“We have discussed trade relations with the EU for many years and we have concluded that we must get rid of these long-term, large and persistent trade deficits, trade deficits arising from your tariffs and non-tax laws, policies and trade barriers,” Trump wrote in his letter to the EU. “Unfortunately, our relationship is far from the countdown.”
Trump is announcing new tariff announcements with allies and enemies, a cornerstone of his 2024 campaign, which he said will be the basis for restoring the U.S. economy, which he claims he claims other countries have cut the foundation for decades.
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With reciprocal tariffs, Trump is effectively blowing up rules about world trade. For decades, the United States and most other countries have complied with tariff rates set by a complex series of negotiations, known as the Uruguay Round. Countries can set their own tariffs – but under the “most popular country” approach, they cannot charge one country more charges than another.
With Saturday’s letter, Trump has now issued tariff conditions in the EU, a 24-country and 27-member member.
The EU’s chief trade negotiator said earlier this week that a trade agreement could be reached “even in the coming days” to avoid tariffs on European goods imported to the United States. Marossáefčovič told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France on Wednesday that the EU exempted the tariffs added in the letters sent by Trump on Monday and that the extension of the talks would provide “extra room to reach satisfactory conclusions”.
The group collectively sells more to the United States than in any other country. According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. imports from the EU exceeded $553 billion in 2022.
Trump proposed a 20% tariff on EU goods on April 2, and then threatened to raise it to a 50% tax rate after negotiations, not as fast as he hoped. Sefcovic does not mention any tariff figures.
Higher tariffs and any EU retaliation were suspended as both sides negotiated. However, the base rate for most trading partners is 10%, the base rate for automobiles is 25%, and the base rate for steel and aluminum is in effect.
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office and president of the Central Right-wing American Action Forum, said the letters prove that no serious trade negotiations have been conducted in the past three months. He stressed that countries are talking to each other about how to minimize their contact with the U.S. economy and Trump.
“They spend time talking to each other about what the future looks like, and we’re excluded,” Holtz-Eakin said.
He added that Trump is using the letters to ask for attention, but, “ultimately, these are letters to other countries that he is trying to collect his citizens.”
& Copy 2025 Canadian Press
