Trump warns EU of 50% tariffs

President Donald Trump rekindled the US trade war on Friday, threatening to impose a 50% tariff on the European Union ahead of planned trade talks — and drawing a strong response from European politicians.

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The new duties on Brussels would, if imposed, dramatically raise Washington's current baseline levy of 10%, and fuel simmering tensions between the world’s biggest economy and its largest trading bloc.

Lamenting that negotiations with the EU “are going nowhere” Mr Trump said on Truth Social on Friday that he is recommending “a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025”

The EU had been “formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage ofthe United States on TRADE’ he said, taking a swipe at “difficult” negotiations.

European leaders and senior politicians reacted with dismay to Mr Trump's announcement, and called for de-escalation.

“We are sticking to our position: de-escalation, but ready to respond,” France’s trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin posted on the X social media platform.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin called Mr Trump's announcement “enormously disappointing” writing on X that “tariffs are damaging to all sides”

“We do not need to go down this road,’ he said, without spelling out how Europe might respond.