Trump now says he can reach a trade deal with the EU, but he doesn't care.
Washington will send a letter informing 150 small countries of a "10% or 15%" tariff.
BarcelonaUS President Donald Trump asserted on Wednesday (already Thursday in Europe) that his administration could close a new trade agreement with the European Union, although he added that he doesn't care whether or not a pact is ultimately reached to avoid the mutual imposition of tariffs between the two powers. "We could reach an agreement with Europe," he declared in an interview, indicating with indifference that he didn't care too much about the outcome of the negotiations: "You know, I just don't care."
"The EU has been brutal, and now they're being very nice," the US president said of the negotiations with EU representatives: "They want to reach an agreement, and it will be very different from the one we've had for years." In fact,The European authorities have tried to keep the negotiating process open. to avoid an agreed increase in trade tariffs.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has threatened all kinds of tariffs against the vast majority of countries in the world, but his priority target has been the main trading partners of the United States, whom he accuses of abusing the United States by maintaining trade balances favorable to them. Notable exception is China—, Trump has announced tariffs, but has always ended up postponing their entry date to continue negotiations. The US has already approved global tariffs on aluminum, automobiles, automotive components, and steel.
In the case of Europe, April 2nd - a day that was named the day of liberation—Trump even announced a 10% tariff on a long list of states and of the additional 20% in the EU, but days later announced a 90-day moratorium for the entire world. Then, on June 1, he announced that the EU would receive a 50% tariff, but paused it again two days later until July 9. 30% If an agreement is not reached by August 1st,
For now, however, Trump's threats in the EU have remained in words rather than deeds. The EU blog continues the negotiations, led by the European Trade Commissioner, veteran Maros Sefcovic, who is holding talks with his US counterpart, Howard Lutnick, and Trump's Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer. Like the US president, EU leaders remain hopeful that they will be able to reach a satisfactory agreement with Washington and avoid a tariff escalation that would severely impact European industry, especially that of countries like Germany, the continent's economic engine.
Letter to 150 small states
In addition, Trump has announced that he will send letters to the governments of more than 150 countries announcing the imposition of tariffs worth "10% or 15%" on their exports to the US.
"It will be the same for everyone, for this group," he said about the tariff. Regarding which countries will receive the notice, Trump clarified that "they are not large and they don't do too much business." The White House has already sent letters to countries in recent days informing them of the imposition of tariffs on their products starting August 1. Trump has been sharing them through his Truth Social account.