Posted on 05/24/2025 7:17:29 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Calling the trade talks a stalemate, US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 50% tariff on the EU on June 1. European markets took an immediate tumble following Trump's social media post.
US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he is recommending a 50% tariff on goods from the European Union, citing a stalemate in trade talks.
"Our discussions with them are going nowhere! Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025," he wrote on social media.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump reiterated his criticism of the EU, saying that the bloc, which "was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with."
He also complained about the EU's "powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies, and more."
At the end of the post, Trump reminded readers that products made in the US are not subject to tariffs.
How did the EU react to Trump's tariff threat?
The EU Commission declined to comment on Trump's post, saying it would wait until for a phone call between EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic and his US counterpart Jamieson Greer to take place at 1500 GMT.
Meanwhile, the euro fell, reversing earlier gains that had been made after the previous Trump tariff threat, reigniting investor fears about the impact of duties on the world economy and trade.
European markets fell almost immediately after Trump's posts. Germany's DAX, a stock market index made up of the 40 largest German blue-chip companies traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, quickly swung to a 1.9% loss, while the analogous French benchmark, CAC 40, fell 2.4%.
The FTSE 100, the United Kingdom's most well-known stock market index comprised of the 100 most highly capitalized blue-chip companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, fell 1.1%.
US markets also experienced a decline. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1.5% and Nasdaq futures tumbled 1.7% before the bell. Oil prices fell and Treasury yields sank as well.
Trump also threatens Apple with 25% tariffs on iPhones
Earlier in the day, before suggesting 50% tariffs on EU imports, Trump threatened Apple with a 25% tariff on iPhones sold but not manufactured in the United States.
"I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone's [sic] that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the US," he added.
Trump has long insisted that Apple manufacture iPhones in the US. However, experts argue that this would require significant investments and would drastically increase the cost of smartphones.
While Apple primarily produces iPhones in China, it has also increased production in India in recent years.
Will the EU socialists lower their tariff barriers? Surely they don’t think Donald is bluffing.
Good its time for the world to stop using us as their patsy.
“...drastically increase the cost of smartphones”
I suspect that the process of making smartphones is highly automated.
Everything with Europe “goes nowhere”. All they do is talk.
Exactly right. We need to stop being a cushion for them.
I can’t wait for June 1 to roll around.
The EU is our enemy.
Nothing but a nest of snide snooty snobs.
From sharing NATO's costs to the snooty French attitude towards the US, the EU has treated the US like dirt. Time to show them that arrogance comes at a price.
Right now they may not have time to negotiate with Trump. They seem to be busy trying to start WWIII.
The Euro Weenies are making a mess in their pants.
“But then you pay more for your smartphone!”
Lefties want to use slave labor and deny Americans jobs.
Most manufacturing will be highly automated.
I work in product development in light industrial.
AI, additive manufacturing and new, automated injection molding equipment have changed things rapidly in the past two or three years.
I think people in the administration know this, certainly Elon knows it.
The days of cheap labor and long supply chains are drawing to a close.
Local manufacturing and automated farming are the future.
How many wars have them bastards caused in history?
Its no wonder the founders warned us about foriegn entanglements.
When Alexander Hamilton became the nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury, he immediately began to prepare a schedule of tariffs, along with excise taxes on such commodities as alcohol and tobacco. The Constitution forbids taxing the exports of any state, and so American tariffs have always been laid only on imports.
Collectors were named for each port, and these were considered plum jobs because the collector got to keep the money, earning interest on it, until it was forwarded to the federal government a few times a year.
Hamilton’s tariffs, along with the refunding of the national debt and the establishment of a central bank, transformed the American financial situation. By the end of the 1790s, the U.S. had the best credit rating in Europe, its bonds selling over par. By 1800, federal revenues, a mere $3.7 million in 1792, had nearly tripled to $10.8 million. About 90 percent of that revenue came from tariffs—a ratio that wouldn’t change much, except during the Civil War, for more than a century.
The problem is Trump is showing the world that he can’t be trusted. He promised a 90 day pause on EU tariffs on April 10th, now he says 50% tariffs on June 1st. Last I checked 90 days would be mid-July.
Good. Its long past time we had equality in our trade relations with Europe. The days of us needed to subsidize them to help rebuild in the wake of WWII should have ended around 1970 or so. Its ridiculous that we’ve let them get away with grossly unequal tariffs and non tariff barriers for this long.
They run a large trade surplus with us. They’re not going to win any trade war with us and they know it.
Except the tariffs then WERE effectively taxing exports too because the exporters were the importers. They had to pay for the ships plus insurance, crew salary, etc to sail across the Atlantic. Having those ships sail back across the Atlantic empty would have been hugely expensive and wasteful. So the exporters would sell their goods and use the money from that to buy things to import into the US - and they would be hit with tariffs when they did so.
What those tariffs really did was rescue New England states which had large debts. Southern states - because they were richer due to being larger exporters of valuable cash crops - had small state debts or no debts at all. Similarly, it was the people in the Southern states who were bearing the overwhelming majority of the tariff burden since they were the exporters. When Northern manufacturers pushed through even higher tariffs to capture market share and/or be able to raise their prices, it caused the Nullification Crisis in 1832 and then Secession of the Southern states in 1860-61.
I disagree. I think Trump's 90 day pause was to give time for real negotiations. It looks like the Europeans aren't negotiating in good faith so he is threatening to shorten the grace period in response.
That was contingent on the EU negotiating in good faith.
Thanks for your reality post versus the rambling r\”hate Trump B$
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