BACK OPEN TODAY. WELL, NEW THIS EVENING, BUSINESS LEADERS COMING TOGETHER TO STRENGTHEN PARTNERSHIPS AND PUSH FOR STABILITY IN THE TRADE. THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS STILL IN TALKS WITH EUROPEANS. EUROPEAN NEGOTIATORS AND RIGHT NOW U.S. TARIFFS ON EUROPEAN GOODS SIT AT 10% AND 20 ACROSS THE BOARD, AND THEN 25% ON CARS, STEEL AND ALUMINUM. WLWT NEWS FIVE鈥橲 MEGAN MITCHELL TALKED WITH BUSINESS AND EUROPEAN LEADERS TO SEE HOW THEY鈥橰E DEALING WITH ALL OF THIS. WELL, YOU MIGHT THINK THE MAIN EXPORT OF KENTUCKY IS BOURBON. THE COMMONWEALTH SAYS THAT AEROSPACE PARTS ARE ACTUALLY NUMBER ONE, AND IT鈥橲 NOT EVEN CLOSE HERE. IT鈥橲 ACTUALLY THREE TIMES THE NUMBER TWO ON THAT LIST. IN FACT, WALTON, KENTUCKY, IS HOME TO A HUGE FACILITY BY FRENCH COMPANY SAFRAN. BUT WITH TARIFFS IN FLUX, SAFRAN AND OTHER COMPANIES ARE WONDERING WHAT鈥橲 NEXT FOR TRADE. PHILIP GARNIER SAYS THE SAFRAN LANDING SYSTEMS PLANT IN WALTON, KENTUCKY, GREW TO BE THE LARGEST PLANT FOR THE COMPANY IN THE UNITED STATES, EMPLOYING HUNDREDS OF FOLKS HERE IN THE AREA. WE HAVE REALLY A GREAT WORKFORCE. WE THAT鈥橲 A REALLY A GOOD PLACE TO HIRE PEOPLE. WE FIND A LOT OF WE HIRE A LOT OF ENGINEERS FROM UC. SO WE HAVE A REALLY CLOSE PROXIMITY WITH UC. EVERY YEAR. WE HAVE PROBABLY 10 TO 15 CO-OPS WORKING FOR US, GARNIER SAYS. DEPENDING ON HOW THE TARIFFS EVOLVE, IT COULD AFFECT HIS COMPANY鈥橲 SUPPLY CHAIN, WHICH IS OKAY. PROVIDED THAT IT DOESN鈥橳 CHANGE EVERY WEEK. IT鈥橲 PRETTY DIFFICULT TO BUILD A LONG TERM STRATEGY WHEN ONE DAY IT鈥橲 25%. IN MEXICO, THE WEEK AFTER IT鈥橲 ZERO AND THEN ZERO IN EUROPE, AND THEN 30 AND THEN TEN. THAT UNCERTAINTY IS ONE REASON WHY GARNIER AND HUNDREDS OF OTHER BUSINESS LEADERS WHO DO WORK WITH EUROPE WERE AT THE EUROPEAN AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CINCINNATI GALA. THE EUROPEAN UNION AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES WAS THERE TO MAKE CLEAR WHAT鈥橲 AT STAKE AS TARIFF TALKS CONTINUE IN WASHINGTON. SO YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT WE ARE PROBABLY THE BIGGEST FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTOR HERE IN, IN, IN, IN OHIO AND STATE OF OHIO. SO THAT THAT MEANS THAT QUITE A NUMBER OF JOBS, WHICH IS MORE THAN 150,000 JOBS. SHE WAS JOINED BY THE PORTUGUESE AMBASSADOR, FRANCISCO LOPEZ, WHO SAYS EVEN WITH THE UNCERTAINTY, HE鈥橲 STILL LOOKING FOR NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW THE RELATIONSHIP. ALREADY FOR SOME TIME, WE THOUGHT THAT OHIO WOULD BE A GOOD PLACE TO COME BECAUSE WE HAVE ALREADY. TRADE AND ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIPS WITH THIS PART OF THE US, AND WE THINK THAT THERE ARE MORE OPPORTUNITIES. SO HERE, HERE I AM. I MODERATED A PANEL WITH THE TWO AMBASSADORS AND ALSO WITH MAYOR AFTAB PUREVAL, AND GIVEN OUR HISTORY OF INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURING IN THIS REGION. THE PANEL TALKED ABOUT THE WAYS IN WHICH OUR REGION SPECIFICALLY HAS REALLY SERVED AND CAN CONTINUE TO SERVE AS A PLACE OF ADVANCING CLEAN TECH, CLEAN ENERGY, A
Trump threatens 50% tariff on EU goods amid trade tensions
Updated: 7:52 AM CDT May 23, 2025
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President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to add a tariff of 50% on goods from the European Union, citing a lack of progress in current trade negotiations.鈥淭heir powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies, and more, have led to a Trade Deficit with the U.S. of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable,鈥� he wrote in a Truth Social post Friday morning.鈥淥ur discussions with them are going nowhere!鈥� Trump wrote.鈥淭herefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.鈥漁lof Gill, a spokesperson for the European Commission, declined to comment immediately, saying he was waiting until after a call between Maro拧 艩ef膷ovi膷, European Commissioner for Trade, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Gill did not specify when the call is taking place.The three major European stock market indexes fell sharply after Trump鈥檚 post: Germany鈥檚 DAX index and France鈥檚 CAC were 2.6% and 2.8% lower on the day respectively. London鈥檚 FTSE index was 1.3% down. U.S. stock futures also tumbled, with futures tied to the Dow falling by more than 600 points, or 1.7%.The tariff Trump is considering slapping on the EU is more than double the size of the 20% initial 鈥渞eciprocal鈥� tariff that was briefly in place in April before he swiftly paused those tariffs to allow for further negotiations.The pause is set to expire on July 9. Since the pause, the only trade deal that鈥檚 been announced is with the United Kingdom.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to add a tariff of 50% on goods from the European Union, citing a lack of progress in current trade negotiations.
鈥淭heir powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies, and more, have led to a Trade Deficit with the U.S. of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable,鈥� he wrote in a Truth Social post Friday morning.
鈥淥ur discussions with them are going nowhere!鈥� Trump wrote.
鈥淭herefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.鈥�
Olof Gill, a spokesperson for the European Commission, declined to comment immediately, saying he was waiting until after a call between Maro拧 艩ef膷ovi膷, European Commissioner for Trade, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Gill did not specify when the call is taking place.
The three major European stock market indexes fell sharply after Trump鈥檚 post: Germany鈥檚 DAX index and France鈥檚 CAC were 2.6% and 2.8% lower on the day respectively. London鈥檚 FTSE index was 1.3% down. U.S. stock futures also tumbled, with futures tied to the Dow falling by more than 600 points, or 1.7%.
The tariff Trump is considering slapping on the EU is more than double the size of the 20% initial 鈥渞eciprocal鈥� tariff that was briefly in place in April before he swiftly paused those tariffs to allow for further negotiations.
The pause is set to expire on July 9. Since the pause, the only trade deal that鈥檚 been announced is with the United Kingdom.