President Donald Trump on Friday threatened the European Union with a sweeping 50% tariff, posting that trade talks with the region are “going nowhere.”
In a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote that he was “recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.”
The post came just minutes after Trump also threatened Apple with a 25% tariff if it does not start producing iPhones in the U.S.
Trump’s posts immediately sent European stock markets lower with stock indexes in Germany and France sharply dropping 2%. The Stoxx 600, which tracks hundreds of stocks across Europe, plunged more than 2%. Shares in the U.K. dropped more than 1%, even though it is not a member of the EU. Dow futures slid more than 500 points and S&P futures dropped 1.5%.
The 27-nation bloc is the United States’ second-biggest trading partner behind China. The United States exported more than $350 billion of goods exported to the E.U. in recent years, and imported $550 billion worth of goods.
Maros Šefčovič, the European Commission’s trade chief, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were set to speak Friday. The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The E.U. has been preparing for months for the possibility that trade talks with the U.S. would fail. In early May Šefčovič said the bloc preffered negotiations, “but not at any cost. We therefore continue to prepare for every scenario.” The following day, the E.U. announced more than $100 billion worth of possible retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
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