Trump announces tariffs on the EU at 25%, Brussels: ‘We will react strongly’

New York/Brussels (ANSA) – The axe of Donald Trump falls on Europe. “We have decided: we will impose 25% tariffs on cars and other things,” announced the American president during the first cabinet meeting of his new administration, which featured Elon Musk‘s show focused on public spending cuts. The details of the blow to Europe are not yet clear.

“They will be announced soon,” specified Trump, also warning Canada and Mexico that on tariffs “he does not intend to stop.” For the two neighboring countries of the United States, it will take effect on April 2. The EU, Trump explained, “is a different case. Let’s be honest: it was formed to cheat us, and they’ve done a good job at it, but now I am the president.”

While reiterating his “love” for European countries, the US president denounced an excessive trade deficit of 300 billion dollars, and observed that their retaliation might not be successful. “They can try, but we – he threatened – can stop buying, and if that happens, we win.”

The European Commission responded to Trump’s announcement by stating that “the EU will react firmly and immediately to unjustified barriers to free and fair trade, even when tariffs are used to challenge legitimate and non-discriminatory policies.” “The EU – a Commission spokesperson emphasized – will always protect European businesses, workers, and consumers from unjustified tariffs.”

Responding to Trump’s statements that the EU “was created to cheat the US,” the spokesperson said that “the EU is the largest free market in the world” and that “it has been a boon for the United States.”

“US investments in Europe are highly profitable. American companies have been able to invest and generate substantial revenues precisely because the EU is a large unified market that is good for business,” he stressed, noting that transatlantic trade in goods and services “amounts to over 1.5 trillion dollars a year, the largest in the world” (February 26).