New commercial escalation between the United States and the European Union. In a message published Friday on the social network Truth Social, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose 50 % customs duties from June 1, 2025 on all imported products from the European Union. On one condition: that these goods are neither built nor manufactured in the United States.
“I recommend customs duties of 50 % on the European Union (…). There will be no rights if the product is built or manufactured in the United States, “said Trump. He criticizes Europeans too much firmness in commercial negotiations, believing that Brussels has always acts at the expense of Washington.
According to the republican billionaire, the European Union was “created with the primary aim of taking advantage of the United States on trade”. A speech he hammered since his first presidential campaign in 2016. This time again, Trump has not chewed his words, castigating the “powerful trade barriers”, “VAT taxes”, “unjustified trials against American companies” or even the “monetary manipulations” of the Union.
He also attacked the European trade surplus vis-à-vis the United States, which reached 192 billion euros in 2024. In his eyes, this excess balance would be proof that the transatlantic partnership is unbalanced-and that it is time to end it.
