President Donald Trump already announced widespread tariffs on major U.S. trading partners. Now, he’s putting the European Union on high alert. Trump warned Sunday, Feb. 2, it’s only a matter of time before he imposes tariffs on the EU.
“It will definitely happen with the European Union. I can tell you that because they’ve really taken advantage of us. And, you know, we have over a $300 billion deficit,” Trump said. “They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our farm products. They take almost nothing and we take everything from them. Millions of cars, tremendous amounts of food and farm products.”
“It’s an atrocity what they’ve done,” Trump added.
According to U.S. Trade Representative data from 2022, the U.S. imports about $200 billion more in goods from Europe than the U.S. exports to Europe. That would be a $200 billion goods trade deficit.
When you add services, the deficit goes down to $130 billion.
Trump’s EU warning comes after he signed executive orders to put 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada and 10% on imports from China. He tied tariffs on these three countries to the fentanyl crisis and immigration.
But, Mexico is already off the hook, at least for now.
Trump announced Monday, Feb. 3, he is putting an “immediate pause” on Mexico tariffs after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 soldiers to the border to prevent drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
The pause is for one month while leaders on both sides negotiate.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett denied this is a “trade war” on CNBC, Monday morning, while Canada’s fate is still up in the air.
“This is 100 percent about a drug war, it’s 100 percent about fentanyl,” Hassett said.
President Trump is expected to speak with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday.
Meanwhile, the EU is vowing to stand up to Trump’s tariff threats.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that Trump’s promise is “pushing the EU to be more united and more active to respond to issues of collective security.”
The bloc’s foreign policy chief said there will be “no winners in a trade war.”
