BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump declared on Saturday that he would impose 30% tariffs on Mexico and the European Union.
In letters shared on social media, Trump declared the imposition of duties on two of the United States’ largest trading partners.
Trump hailed Mexico’s assistance in reducing the number of drugs and illegal migrants entering the United States in his letter to the country’s leader. However, he claimed that not enough has been done by the nation to prevent North America from becoming a playground for drug trafficking.
Trump continued, “Mexico has been assisting me in securing the border, but what they have done is insufficient.”
Trump claimed that the U.S. trade deficit posed a threat to national security in his letter to the European Union.
In his letter to the EU, Trump stated, “We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with the European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, trade deficits, engendered by your Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies, and Trade Barriers.” Regretfully, our relationship has not been reciprocal.
As a cornerstone of his 2024 campaign, Trump is currently announcing additional tariffs to both allies and opponents. He believes that these tariffs would lay the groundwork for rebuilding the American economy, which has been stolen by other countries for decades.
By imposing reciprocal tariffs, Trump is essentially upending international trade regulations. The Uruguay round, a series of intricate discussions, established the tariff rates that the United States and the majority of other nations adhered to for decades. Although nations were free to determine their own tariffs, they were not allowed to charge one nation more than another under the most favored nation policy.
Trump has now imposed tariff requirements on 24 nations and the 27-member European Union with his letters from Saturday.
Earlier this week, the chief trade negotiator for the European Union stated that a trade agreement to prevent increased taxes on European goods imported into the United States would be struck as soon as this week. The EU was spared the higher tariffs in the letters Trump delivered on Monday, Maro ef ovi told EU legislators in Strasbourg, France, on Wednesday. He also said that an extension of the discussions would give more time to come to a satisfactory agreement.
All together, the bloc sells more to the United States than any other nation. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative reports that in 2022, U.S. imports of products from the EU totaled more than $553 billion.
After negotiations did not proceed as quickly as he had hoped, Trump threatened to increase the 20% duty he had suggested on April 2 to 50% for EU goods. No tariff data were mentioned by Sefcovic.
While the two parties talk, the higher tariffs and any retaliation from the EU have been put on hold. Nonetheless, the basic rate of 10% for the majority of trading partners had been implemented, along with higher tariffs of 25% for automobiles and 50% for steel and aluminum.
The letters, according to Douglas Holtz-Eakin, head of the center-right American Action Forum and former director of the Congressional Budget Office, were proof that meaningful trade negotiations had not been held during the previous three months. Instead, he emphasized, countries were discussing ways to reduce their own exposure to Trump and the U.S. economy.
Holtz-Eakin claimed that we are excluded from their time spent discussing the future with one another.
He went on to say that although Trump was using the letters to get attention, they were really letters to other nations about taxes he planned to impose on his people.
