Former U.S. President Donald Trump has announced plans to impose 50% tariffs on imports from the European Union beginning June 1, 2025. He made the statement on the social media platform Truth Social, expressing frustration with the stalled trade negotiations with Brussels.
According to Trump, the EU was created “to take advantage of the United States on trade,” and dealing with the bloc has proven extremely difficult. He emphasized that the proposed tariffs are intended to rebalance what he sees as unfair trade relations. Products manufactured in the U.S. would be exempt from the new duties.
Trump also criticized the current trade system, citing barriers such as value-added taxes, corporate penalties, and legal actions against American companies. He claimed these factors contribute to an annual U.S. trade deficit with the EU exceeding $250 billion.
Earlier, on April 2, Trump signed an executive order introducing “reciprocal” import tariffs. The base rate was set at 10%, with higher rates implemented on April 9 for 57 countries, calculated based on the size of the U.S. trade deficit with each nation. However, after more than 75 countries refrained from retaliatory measures and requested talks, Trump temporarily paused the increased tariffs, maintaining the 10% base rate for 90 days — with the exception of China.
