President Donald Trump threatened to impose new import taxes on the European Union, cutting short a 90-day reprieve from the Liberation Day tariffs he had imposed in April.
Minutes after threatening to impose tariffs on European Union imports, President Trump also told Apple CEO Tim Cook that he expects their iPhones to be manufactured and built in the U.S., or the company should expect to pay 25% tariffs.
Many Apple products made in China were exempted from tariffs after Customs and Border Protection released guidance indicating that smartphones, computers, and certain chips would be exempt from the import taxes on products from China.
President Trump said he is now recommending a 50% import tax on the European Union starting June 1.
On April 2, President Trump announced a 20% tariff on the European Union, but days later said he would issue a 90-day pause to facilitate negotiations. Those negotiations, he said, "are going nowhere."
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He claimed that the European Union has been "very difficult to deal with," alleging that the bloc of European nations has taken a number of actions to create a large trade deficit.
President Trump has also imposed global 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. In response to those duties, the EU said it would impose 25% tariffs on goods from the U.S. However, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen took notice of President Trump’s decision to pause "reciprocal" tariffs in April and saw it as a sign that the United States is open to negotiations.
"If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in. Preparatory work on further countermeasures continues. As I have said before, all options remain on the table," she said in April.
President Trump stated he decided to pause the retaliatory tariffs after people began getting "yippy" amid market turmoil.
Tariffs are charged to companies importing the items, and many companies, including Walmart, said some of those costs will be passed on to consumers.
