Trump ‘Extremely Satisfied’ With Plan to Hit EU With 50 Percent Tariff

The comment comes after he had announced that those tariffs would be paused until July 9 if no deal is made.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his announcement to place 50 percent tariffs on European Union imports into the United States was a success because it pushed the 27-nation bloc to move faster on a deal.

Trump last week warned that he would impose the 50 percent rate starting on June 1 but said in a social media post over the weekend that it would be pushed back to July 9 amid trade negotiations.

In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, the president indicated he is pleased with how it played out and is also “extremely satisfied with the 50 percent Tariff allotment on the European Union, especially since they were slow walking (to put it mildly!), our negotiations with them.”

“I have just been informed that the E.U. has called to quickly establish meeting dates. This is a positive event, and I hope that they will, FINALLY, like my same demand to China, open up the European Nations for Trade with the United States of America,” he said.

He added a caveat that he is “empowered to ‘SET A DEAL’ for Trade into the United States if we are unable to make a deal, or are treated unfairly,” according to the post.

In a social media post last week before he delayed the imposition of the duties, Trump had threatened to impose the 50 percent tariff on EU goods, asserting that the bloc had been “very difficult to deal with” on trade and that negotiations were “going nowhere.”

A call between Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday led to the delay until July.

EU Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho told a news conference that von der Leyen and Trump agreed to fast-track the negotiations. The result of the call means that “there is now also a new impetus for the negotiations, and we will take it from there … from our side, we always said that we were ready to make a deal,” she said.

Von der Leyen confirmed the call with Trump in a post on X and wrote that the EU and the United States “share the world’s most consequential and close trade relationship.” She added that Europe is also “ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively” and that “to reach a good deal, we would need the time until July 9.”

The EU has offered Trump a “zero for zero” deal in which tariffs would be removed on industrial goods including automobiles, but the Trump administration has said it will not lower tariffs below a 10 percent baseline imposed on almost all its trading partners. Trump has also announced broad tariffs of 25 percent on steel and automobiles.

The 10 percent baseline tariff was announced in early April as part of a “Liberation Day” statement released by the Trump administration, which also included higher rates for major U.S. trading partners. About a week later, Trump issued another statement pausing the higher rates for 90 days.

The administration also hiked tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 percent. Earlier this month, both Washington and Beijing agreed to a deal that would have both the United States and the Chinese regime reduce their tariffs by 115 percent.

Aside from the announcement to impose new duties on the EU, Trump also said he would place a 25 percent import tax on all smartphones unless those devices are manufactured in America.

“I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,” Trump wrote in a post last week. “ If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25 percent must be paid by Apple to the U.S.”

Trump later clarified his post to say that the tariffs would apply to all smartphones, not just Apple’s iPhone.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.