Trade war

Trump threatens 50% tariffs from 1 June to EU: 'I'm not looking for a deal'

"The EU is fully involved and committed to ensuring a mutually beneficial agreement," replied EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic.

23 May 2025

3' min read

US President Donald Trump has denied that he wants to reach an agreement with the European Union, following his recent proposal to impose 50 per cent tariffs on imports from the EU as of 1 June.

"I'm not looking for an agreement. I mean, we've already established one. It's 50 per cent (duty), but I repeat, no duty if they build their plant here," Trump said in the Oval Office, where he said the European Union wants to reach an agreement, but "it's not doing it the right way".

On his social Truth, Trump had argued that 'it is very difficult to deal with the European Union, which was formed with the aim of taking advantage of the United States on trade', stressing that 'our discussions' with the EU 'are going nowhere'.

"The EU is fully involved and committed to ensuring a mutually beneficial agreement. The EU Commission is ready to work in good faith. EU-US trade is unparalleled and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats. We are ready to defend our interests,' EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic wrote on X after his phone conversation with the two US negotiators, Howard Lutnick and Jamieson Greer. The phone call was meant to clarify positions for the negotiations, although, from what was leaked, the parties had already exchanged a list of demands, with Brussels convinced that it had detailed and structured its own, reiterating its readiness to address the imbalances and its proposal for 'zero tariffs' on industrial products.

Spoke w @jamiesongreer & @howardlutnick. The EU's fully engaged, committed to securing a deal that works for both. @EU_Commission remains ready to work in good faith. EU-US trade is unmatched & must be guided by mutual respect, not threats. We stand ready to defend our interests. pic.twitter.com/RfIo5K4aus
— Maroš Šefčovič🇪🇺 (@MarosSefcovic) May 23, 2025

Shortly before the announcement on duties to the EU, the US president had also threatened to impose duties "of at least 25%" on Apple if the company does not produce its iPhones in the US. The same threat was aimed at the South Korean manufacturer Samsung.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that President Donald Trump is 'frustrated' by the slowdown in trade negotiations with the European Union and hopes that the president's social media threat to impose tariffs of up to 50% will 'light a fire under the EU'. Bessent anticipated that more trade agreements could be signed in the coming months, citing progress in talks with India and some Asian countries. He would not, however, specify what the next official announcement would be. "I hope this will prompt the EU to get a move on," Bessent said. The Treasury secretary explained that the president thinks the EU's trade agreement proposals "have not been of the same quality" as those that have been put forward by other trading partners. "The 90-day tariff break of 2 April was based on countries or trading blocs coming to us to negotiate in good faith," he added.

I had a long phone call with Sefcovic and we also talked about content, our line is to reach an agreement, no trade war, the goal is always zero duty-zero duty,' Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in Mexico City.

Germany's foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, criticised threats by the US president, Donald Trump, to impose 50% tariffs on European products imported to the US. "Such tariffs do not help anyone, but only harm the economies of both markets," he said at a press conference in Berlin. "We continue to rely on the negotiations" conducted by the European Commission, he added, those same negotiations that Trump wrote on Truth "are leading nowhere".