President Donald Trump has added the nations of the European Union to those that face stiff tariffs on goods they export to the United States.
In a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday Trump said in response to a question about possible tariffs on the EU, “We’ll be announcing it very soon, and it’ll be 25%, generally speaking, and that’ll be on cars and all other things.”
The EU has “really taken advantage of us …” Trump told reporters. “They don’t accept our cars. They don’t accept essentially our farm products, … and we accept everything from them and we have about a $300 billion deficit with the European Union.”
He added, “Look, let’s be honest. The European Union was formed in order to screw the United States. That’s the purpose of it.”
Asked what would happen if EU nations retaliate, Trump said, “We are the pot of gold. … They can retaliate, but it cannot be a successful retaliation because we just go cold turkey. We don’t buy any more, and if that happens, we win.”
Trump said on Monday that 25% tariffs on most goods imported from the United States’ biggest trading partners – Mexico and Canada – would move forward. He initially paused the levies to give those countries time to reduce the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs across the border.
Trump has already imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese imports, and he has said reciprocal tariffs to be assessed against all countries based on their particular tariff rates on U.S. exports will be implemented in April.
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