Trump Proposes 50% Tariff on EU Imports, Says He's ‘Not Looking for a Deal’

Former U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is recommending a 50% tariff on all imports from the European Union, signaling a sharp escalation in trade tensions between Washington and Brussels.

Citing stalled trade negotiations and what he described as persistent European barriers to American goods, Trump said the new tariffs would take effect June 1, 2025. "Our discussions with them are going nowhere," he wrote on Truth Social. “It’s time that we play the game the way I know how to play the game.”

Trump, who often touts tariffs as both a negotiating tactic and a revenue stream, made clear he is no longer seeking a deal with the 27-nation bloc. “I’m not looking for a deal,” he said during a White House event.

The announcement came shortly after he threatened to impose a 25% tariff on Apple if the tech giant fails to shift iPhone manufacturing to the U.S. Markets responded swiftly — U.S. stock futures dipped, and European markets fell by roughly 2%.

In his post, Trump accused the EU of using “powerful trade barriers, VAT taxes, corporate penalties, and unfair lawsuits” to disadvantage American companies, resulting in a $250 billion trade deficit. He emphasized that the proposed 50% tariff would not apply to products manufactured within the United States.

EU Yet to Respond

The European Commission declined to comment on the announcement. The EU was the second-largest market for U.S. exports in 2022, importing nearly $351 billion worth of American goods, according to the U.S. Trade Representative.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the proposal Friday, stating that the EU’s recent trade offers “have not matched the standards set by our other key partners like China and the UK.”

When asked if negotiations could still prevent the tariff from taking effect, Bessent said, “I would hope that this lights a fire under the EU.”

Economic Concerns Surface

Economists are warning of potential fallout. Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee called the 50% rate “a completely different order of magnitude” and warned that such a move could trigger stagflation — a combination of slowed economic output and rising prices.

Despite pushback from markets and analysts, the White House downplayed the impact of Trump’s comments, with sources telling CNBC that the administration does not view his post as an official policy directive — at least for now.