Trade War: Donald Trump Renews Attack on Europe

The partial truce declared by Donald Trump in his trade war against the European Union (EU) was due to end on July 8. But on Friday, May 23, the American president threatened to change the rules of the game. "I recommend imposing 50% tariffs on the EU starting June ¹ ," he declared on his Truth Social network. "It is very difficult to deal with the EU, which was created, in the first place, to take advantage of the United States from a commercial point of view. (…) Our discussions are going nowhere," he explained, blaming the Europeans for "trade barriers, VAT, ridiculous sanctions against American companies, non-tariff barriers, currency manipulation, unfair prosecutions (…) against American companies."

Since returning to the White House, Donald Trump has denounced European trade surpluses – some 150 billion euros on industrial goods and only 50 billion if the American surplus in services is taken into account, according to the Commission – and has made numerous announcements of tariff increases.

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