President Donald Trump on Saturday said he will impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the European Union (EU) starting on Aug. 1.
Trump announced the tariffs in letters posted to Truth Social, which he has used over the past week to unveil a flurry of new import levies with dozens of U.S. trading partners.
In his letter to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump cited fentanyl as the main reason for the tariffs.
“Mexico has been helping me secure the border, BUT, what Mexico has done, is not enough,” Trump wrote. “Mexico still has not stopped the Cartels who are trying to turn all of North America into a Narco-Trafficking Playground.”
It’s unclear if goods covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement will remain exempt from the tariffs.
Trade between the U.S. and Mexico totaled more than$840 billion in 2024, making Mexico the top U.S. trade partner for the second consecutive year, according to Census Bureau data.
Mexico was also the top U.S. trade partner in May at $74.5 billion.
In a letter to the EU, Trump said that the U.S. trade deficit was a national security threat.
“We have had years to discuss our Trading Relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, Trade Deficits, engendered by your Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies, and Trade Barriers,” Trump wrote. “Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from Reciprocal.”
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said the commission will continue to work toward an agreement before the Aug. 1 deadline arrives.
“Imposing 30 percent tariffs on EU exports would disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains, to the detriment of businesses, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic,” Von der Leyen said in a news release.
