Trump threatens a 50% tariff on EU goods starting in June

President Donald Trump threatened a 50% tariff on goods from the European Union starting on June 1, saying “our discussions with them are going nowhere.”

“The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Friday, criticizing what he said were the trade bloc’s “powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies.”

Read: EU targets €100bn of US goods with tariffs if talks fail

Futures for the S&P 500 Index fell 1.1% while Nasdaq 100 futures declined 1.3% Friday morning after Trump’s threat, which also came minutes after the president also said he would hit American tech giant Apple Inc. with tariffs of at least 25% on its goods if it does not make its popular iPhones in the US.

Trump’s latest trade posturing comes after the EU, earlier this week, shared a revived trade proposal with the US in a bid to jump-start their talks.

The new framework includes proposals that take into account US interests, including international labor rights, environmental standards, economic security and gradually reducing tariffs to zero on both sides for non-sensitive agricultural products as well as industrial goods, according to people familiar with the matter.

Read: Trump pauses higher reciprocal tariffs on most nations

The proposal also outlined areas where the US and EU could cooperate such as mutual investments and strategic procurement in energy, artificial intelligence and digital connectivity.

But there were signals the US was unhappy with the offer. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday said at an Axios event that some trade negotiations had proved “impossible.”

“Like the European Union — it’s just very difficult because, you know, Germany would like to make a deal, but they’re not allowed,” Lutnick said.

The EU is also moving forward with preparing countermeasures if negotiations fail to produce a satisfactory outcome. The trade bloc has put together plans to hit €95 billion of US exports ($107 billion) with additional tariffs in response to Trump’s “reciprocal” levies and 25% tariffs on cars and some parts.

Read: EU urged to scrap rules that force short-sellers out of shadows

The EU agreed earlier this month to delay for 90 days the implementation of a separate set of retaliatory tariffs against the US over 25% duties Trump imposed on the bloc’s steel and aluminium exports. That move came after Trump lowered his so-called reciprocal rate on most EU exports to 10% from 20% for the same amount of time.

Nations and trading blocs have been racing to cut deals with Trump to avoid the higher tariffs.

© 2025 Bloomberg

Follow Moneyweb’s in-depth finance and business news on WhatsApp here.