The US President has threatened to impose the levies starting on August 1
US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that Washington will impose 30% tariffs on two of its key trade partners: the EU and Mexico.
Just days earlier, Trump declared a flurry of tariffs on key US allies in Asia, as well as on certain BRICS nations.
The president revealed the new rates in letters to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, which he posted on Truth Social on Saturday. The tariffs are to take hold on August 1.
Trump accused Mexico of not doing enough to fight the trafficking of fentanyl into the US, and noted that the tariff could be lowered if the nation is successful in “challenging the cartels and stopping the flow” of the deadly opioid.
In his letter to von der Leyen, the president condemned the EU’s “trade deficit” with the US. He also offered to make an “adjustment” to the 30% tariff if the bloc eliminates its tariffs and opens trade barriers to US goods.
Both of the 30% levies are entirely separate from the existing “sectoral tariffs,” such as the blanket 25% duty on steel, aluminum, and car imports imposed earlier this year.
The president warned that he would mirror any retaliatory tariffs imposed by either the EU or Mexico and add them to the 30% levy.
Additionally, Trump stated that he would waive the respective tariffs on imports into the US if the EU and Mexico – or their domestic companies – “decide to build or manufacture product within the United States.”
Both Mexico and the EU are among Washington’s biggest trade partners, exporting $505 billion and $606 billion of goods into the US last year, respectively, according to the US Trade Representative’s Office.
“We will continue working towards an agreement by August 1,” von der Leyen said in an X post on Saturday, adding that Brussels will be “ready to safeguard EU interests on the basis of proportionate countermeasures.”
Trump slapped 20% tariffs on imports from the EU in February, prompting retaliatory levies from Brussels. The president later paused most tariffs at a 10% rate following market unrest, but the freeze expired on Wednesday. Despite negotiations, Washington and Brussels have yet to reach a conclusive trade deal.
According to von der Leyen, the tariff standoff may have damaged the EU-US relationship beyond repair. “The relationship with the US may never go back to what it used to be,” she said at a forum in Rome on Thursday.
