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Scott Bessent listens as President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the Oval Office of the White House.” width=”800″ height=”450″ loading=”lazy”/>

president Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 50% tariff on all imports from the European Union (EU), and also a 25% tariff on smartphones not manufactured in the United States.

These pronouncements, made via social media, highlight Trump’s capacity to rapidly influence the global economy and the fact that his tariff policies have not yet resulted in the trade agreements he desires or the return of domestic manufacturing he pledged to voters.

The Republican president expressed his desire to levy higher import taxes on goods from the EU, a long-time ally of the US, than on those from China, a geopolitical competitor whose tariffs were reduced to 30% this month to facilitate negotiations between Washington and Beijing. Trump voiced his dissatisfaction with the lack of progress in trade discussions with the EU, which has proposed eliminating tariffs on both sides, even as the president has publicly insisted on maintaining a baseline 10% tax on the majority of imports.

“Our discussions with them are going nowhere!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Thus, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. There is no Tariff i

EU Responds to Potential Tariffs

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the EU faces a “collective action problem” due to its 27 member states being represented by “this one group in Brussels,” leading to a situation where “the underlying countries don’t even know what the EU is negotiating on their behalf.”

Bessent mentioned that while he did not attend a White House meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook this week, he did speak with Cook separately. Bessent said the objective was to encourage Apple to bring more of its computer chip supply chain to the US.

Trump’s central argument against the EU is that the US has a “totally unacceptable” trade deficit with the 27 member states, which occurs when a country imports more goods than it exports.

From the perspective of the EU’s executive commission,trade with the US is generally balanced when both goods and services are taken into account. The US, as a global hub for finance and technology, has a trade surplus in services with Europe, which partially offsets the trade deficit in goods, putting the overall imbalance at €48 billion (NZ$91 billion).

Our discussions with them are going nowhere! Thus, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.

german Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul affirmed that the EU’s executive commission has his country’s full support in working to “preserve our access to the American market”.

“I think such tariffs help no one, but would just lead to economic advancement in both markets suffering,” Wadephul said in Berlin. “So we are still counting on negotiations,and support the European Commission in defending Europe and the European market while simultaneously occurring working on persuasion in America.”

While Trump aides have suggested that the goal of his tariffs was to isolate china and forge new agreements with allies, the president’s tariff threats contradict these claims. German economist Marcel fratscher argued that not onyl could the EU face higher tariffs than China, but the bloc of member states might have been better off forming a broad coalition with china and other countries against trump’s trade policy.

“The strategy of the EU Commission and Germany in the trade conflict with Trump is a total failure,” Fratscher, the head of the German Institute for Economic Research, said on X. “This was a failure you could see coming – Trump sees Europe’s wavering, hesitation and concessions as the weaknesses that they are.”

Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, believes the 50% tariffs on Europe are likely a “negotiating ploy” by Trump. She suggests that Trump seems to believe that negotiations involve reaching a “threat point” that could risk self-harm to demonstrate seriousness, in the hope of securing an agreement.

Though, Lovely argues that in the long run, Trump’s approach “suggests that the US is an unreliable trading partner, that it operates on whim, not on rule of law.”

Trump’s Hot and Cold Relationship with Apple

Trump’s relationship with Apple has been inconsistent, suggesting that gaining his favor may not protect a company from his displeasure. he has essentially instructed companies like Walmart to “eat” the costs of his tariffs instead of raising prices,even though this could reduce profits and lead to layoffs. He now seems to be applying similar pressure to force Apple to accept the higher costs of relocating its supply chains.

Trump had previously granted an exemption on electronics imported from China to benefit companies like Apple, which he could