On 26 February, during his first cabinet meeting at the White House, the new US President Donald Trump announced, in front of Elon Musk, that European products will soon face a 25% customs duty. Trump vented about the European Union, saying the EU doesn’t accept American cars or agricultural products.” He claimed, “They take advantage of us in a different way” compared to Canada or Mexico.
Trump also mentioned that he decided to hit European products with tariffs at the same rate that Canadian and Mexican goods should have from the start of April. He repeated that the US trade deficit with Europe is “$300 billion,” but the European Commission disputes that, stating it’s around €150 billion (about $157 billion) for goods alone and only $50 billion when considering the US trade surplus in services.
Last week, Trump gave some wrong figures about US aid to Ukraine, with reports showing that the US provided only a third of what he claimed. In his usual style, the new president took shots at the EU, suggesting that while European countries might think about retaliating, they’d be cautious since he’s now in charge.
