Washington, 23 May 2025 (dpa/MIA) - US President Donald Trump is recommending that exports from the European Union to the United States be subjected to a 50% tariff, according to a post on his Truth Social network.

Trump criticized the EU, saying the bloc which "was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with."

He outlined a laundry list of complaints including "their powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies, and more."

The US president said trade talks with Brussels "are going nowhere" and that he therefore wants a straight 50% tariff on all EU imports starting on June 1.

Trump, as he has done on other posts about his controversial trade policies, reminded readers that there is no tariff if a product is made in the US.

EU has trade surplus in goods with US, but deficit in services

Trump in his Truth Social post, incorrectly stated that the US has a trade deficit with the EU "of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable."

That figure - which is $250 million - is woefully below official figures posted by both the US and the EU.

According to the US Trade Representative, the US trade deficit in goods with the EU was $235.6 billion in 2024, a 12.9% increase over 2023.

According to EU figures, the 27-member bloc had a €198.2 billion ($224 billion) trade surplus in goods with the US.

But EU figures for 2023, the latest available, show a deficit of €108.6 billion with the US when it comes to trade in services, which includes trade involving the highly dominant US tech companies, such as Meta, Google, Apple and Amazon. 

Negotiations ongoing with Europeans

EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are due to hold talks later on Friday, a European Commission spokeswoman said. The phone call was already planned before Trump's announcement.

In April, following significant turbulence in the stock and financial markets, Trump unexpectedly decided to grant many countries, and the EU, a 90-day reprieve from certain tariffs. These punitive tariffs had been tied to the trade deficit of the respective countries.

The EU had also announced that it would suspend planned retaliatory tariffs on US products for 90 days.

Trump had previously threatened the EU with blanket tariffs of 25% if no agreement was reached with the US. The deadline for this had been set for July.

The Trump administration has so far not responded to an offer from Brussels for the mutual elimination of all tariffs on industrial goods.

However, Trump had expressed optimism about finding a resolution to the tariff dispute with the Europeans.

It is now entirely unclear whether the 50% punitive tariffs will actually come into effect in June. Trump has frequently threatened high tariffs in the past, only to later reverse course.

The US president aims to use tariffs to address alleged trade imbalances and shift production to the United States.

At the same time, the tariff revenues are intended to help partially finance his costly campaign promise of significant tax cuts, but many small and medium-sized US businesses and consumers say it is they who will end up paying for the fees, which are essentially a tax on imported goods.

Photo: MIA archive