Trump announces 30% tariffs on the European Union and Mexico as the commercial war increases again

Bridgewater, NJ (AP) – President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he is raising tariffs of 30% against the European Union and Mexico from August 1, a measure that could cause a massive agitation between the United States and two of his largest commercial partners.

Trump detailed the planned rates in the letters published in his social media account. They are part of a Trump announcement of new tariffs with allies and enemies equally, a base of its 2024 campaign that, according to him, would establish the basis for reliving an American economy that, according to him, has been scammed by other nations for decades.

In her letter to the leader of Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump acknowledged that the country has been useful to stop the flow of undocumented and fentanyl migrants in the United States. But he said that the country has not done enough to prevent North America from becoming a “narco traffic playground.”

“Mexico has been helping me to ensure the border, but what Mexico has done, is not enough,” Trump added.

Trump in his letter to the European Union said that the United States trade deficit was a national security threat.

“We have had years to discuss our commercial relationship with the European Union, and we have concluded that we must move away from these long -term, large and persistent commercial deficits, generated by its tariff and non -rate, commercial policies and barriers,” Trump wrote in the letter to the EU. “Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from being reciprocal.”

EU and Mexico respond

The president of the European Union commission, Ursula von der Leyen, responded by pointing out the “commitment of the block to dialogue, stability and a constructive transatlantic association.”

Spencer Platt through Getty Images

“At the same time, we will take all the necessary measures to safeguard the interests of the EU, including the adoption of proportional countermeasures if necessary,” Von said in a statement.

Von de Leyen added that the EU is still committed to continuous negotiations with the United States and reaching an agreement before August 1. The trade ministers of the EU countries are scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss commercial relations with the United States, as well as with China.

The Mexican government said it was informed on Friday during high -level conversations with the officials of the United States Department of State who approached Trump’s letter.

The delegation told Trump officials at the meeting that he did not agree with the decision and considered it “unfair treatment,” according to the Mexican government’s statement.

Trump, as he has done in previous letters, warned that his administration would further increase tariffs if the EU tries to raise their own tariffs to the United States.

With reciprocal tariffs, Trump is effectively exploiting the rules that govern world trade. For decades, the United States and most other countries complied with the tariff rates established through a series of complex negotiations known as the Uruguay Round. Countries could establish their own tariffs, but under the approach of the “most favored nation”, they could not charge one more country than they charged to another.

The Italian government said on Saturday that it continues to “closely monitor” the ongoing trade negotiations between the European Union and the United States, fully supporting the EU commission’s efforts.

“We trust the goodwill of all interested parties to reach a fair agreement that can strengthen the West as a whole, since, particularly in the current scenario, it would not make sense to trigger a commercial war between the two sides of the Atlantic,” said Giorgia Meloni’s office in a statement.

The Mexico rate, if it enters into force, could replace 25% tariffs in Mexican goods that do not comply with the existing free trade agreement of US-mexicocanada.

Trump’s letter did not address if the goods that meet the USMCA would still be exempt from the tariffs of Mexico after August 1, as the White House said would be the case of Canada. Trump sent a letter to Canada earlier this week threatening a tariff increase of 35%.

Higher rates had been suspended

With Saturday’s letters, Trump has issued tariff conditions in 24 countries and the European Union of 27 members.

Via News

The main commercial negotiator of the European Union said earlier this week that a commercial agreement to avoid higher tariffs on European goods imported to the United States could reach “even in the next few days.” Maroš šefčovič told EU legislators on Wednesday in Strasbourg, France, that the EU had saved with the increase in rates contained in the letters that Trump sent on Monday, and that an extension of the conversations would provide “additional space to reach a satisfactory conclusion.”

The block collectively sells more to the US. Uu. Any other country. EE.

On April 2, Trump proposed a 20% tariff for EU assets and then threatened to raise that to 50% after negotiations did not move as fast as he would have liked. Sefcovic did not mention any tariff figure.

The highest rates and any retaliation of the EU had been suspended as the two parties negotiate. However, the 10% base rate for most commercial partners, as well as the highest rates of 25% in cars and 50% in steel and aluminum had entered into force.

Douglas Holtz-Eeakin, former director of the Budget Office of the Congress and president of the American Forum of Action of the center of the right, said the letters were evidence that serious commercial conversations had no place in the last three months. He stressed that the nations were talking to each other on how to minimize their own exposure to the US economy and Trump.

“Time are speaking between them about how the future will look, and we stay out,” said Holtz-Eaakin.

He added that Trump was using the letters to demand attention, but, “in the end, these are letters to other countries on taxes that will be imposed on their citizens.”

The potential impact is vast

If tariffs really enter into force, the potential impact on Europe could be vast.

The value of the EU-E-EE goods and services. UU. Ascended 1.7 billion euros ($ 2 billion) in 2024, or an average of 4,600 million euros per day, according to the EU Eurostat Statistics Agency

The largest exports from Europe to the United States were pharmaceutical products, cars, airplanes, chemicals, medical instruments and wine and liquors.

Lamberto Frescobaldipr, is identity of the union of the Association of Commerce of Italian wines, said that Trump’s movement could lead to “a virtual embargo” of his country’s wine.

“A single letter was enough to write the darkest chapter in the relationships between two historical western allies,” said Frescobaldi. “At this point, our destination and that of hundreds of thousands of jobs are linked to extra time, which will be crucial, because it is unthinkable to sell these volumes of wine in other parts in the short term.”

Trump has complained about the commercial surplus of 198 billion euros of the EU in goods, which shows Americans who buy more European business than the other way around.

However, American companies fill some of the gaps by overcoming the EU when it comes to services such as cloud computing, legal and financial services and services.

The US Services surplus. Uu took the nation’s commercial deficit with the EU to 50 billion euros ($ 59 billion), which represents less than 3% of the general trade of the EU-EU.

Before Trump returned to office, the United States and the EU maintained a generally cooperative commercial relationship and low rates of rates on both sides. The US rate averaged 1.47% for European goods, while the EU averaged 1.35% for US products.

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AP Josh Boak writers in Washington, Angela Charlton in Paris, Regina García Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, Dave Mchugh in Frankfurt, Germany and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed to inform.