Why Trump has been over trade in Europe

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Gavin Bade, The Wall Street Journal 5 min Read May 26, 2025, 07:20 am IST Trump threatens 50% rates on EU imports, citing frustration over trade talks, tax and China approach. (Beeld: Bloomberg) Summary The president’s economic team is frustrated by what it says, the sluggish rate of discussions. President Trump’s surprising tariff threat against the European Union has been in the midst of the deepening of frustration over his economic team over the 27-year-old’s approach to tax, regulations and China. Trump’s advisers expressed private irritation to European officials that the various EU trade priorities delayed the discussions, according to people who are familiar with the discussions. They complained about what they see as Europe’s cautious approach to the negotiations and what they call the EU’s reluctance to make concrete offers that we address, such as streaming services, value -added tax, car regulations and fines imposed against US companies in antitrust cases, people said. So far, the US has not assured a commitment of EU leaders to place new rates on Chinese industries, a priority for Trump administration officials trying to increase the trade on Beijing, people said. As part of separate trade negotiations with the US, the UK has agreed to move to the setting of rates on Chinese steel, people said. It helped to seal the US-UK trade transaction that Trump announced this month. According to people who are familiar with the block’s approach, EU officials have indicated a willingness not to address market economies such as China’s. The US EU voltage cooked on Friday morning, when Trump threatened to draw up European imports of 50% on June 1. Trump indicated in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon that he intended to follow through the EU at least for now and said he was not looking for an agreement. The president expressed for many years in public as well as private indignation across Europe, which often pointed out more than a few American adversaries. From his first term, Trump has criticized the member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for not spending enough money on the defense, a charge he has repeated for years. This month he said that the EU is “nastier than China.” He referred to the antitrust fines of the BLOC as tax on US companies. In February, he said the EU “was founded to screw the United States.” Trump’s blunt negotiating tactics are in contrast to the more established and process-oriented approach of EU leaders, which include regular consultations with member states. Trump’s threat to Friday morning, issued in a social media post, was a surprise to EU officials and diplomats, who have expressed optimism over the past few days that trade discussions have started to come to a slow start. The EU and the US recently exchanged documents that described possible discussion points in trade discussions, a step that some European diplomats considered a positive development, and the BLOC has privately indicated that it is ready to work with the US to address China’s state subsidies for key industries, a person said. The EU trade head, Maroš šefčovič, spoke on a call with US trade representative Jamieson Greer and trade secretary Howard Lutnick hours after Trump’s Truth Social Post. After Friday’s call, Šefčovič said the EU is fully engaged in trade conversations with the US, but is ready to defend its interests. The trade between the two sides is unmatched, Šefčovič wrote in a social media post, but “must be led by mutual respect, not threats.” An EU official said on Friday that China was not a big point in conversations between the two sides. Stock dropped on fresh trading tension on Friday. EU officials have tried to find a middle ground to respond to the US less aggressive than China’s trade yellowing, but more assertive than the UK, the UK reached an agreement with the US this month that held Trump’s 10% tariffs on the board of British goods. Several EU ministers recently said they will not be satisfied with a trade agreement that maintained the 10% rates. The China-related discussions are part of a US strategy to push trading partners to punish the world’s second largest economy by negotiating Trump’s so-called reciprocal rates, which were imposed in early April before being suspended for 90 days to make talks. The US strategy seeks to limit China’s involvement in other economies – especially in strategic industries such as steel – as well as pushing other countries to apply rates to China’s goods to counter the state subsidies provided by Beijing, which makes its products more competitive worldwide. The US has made similar China-related “economic security” requests with other important trading partners such as Japan and South Korea, people with knowledge of the discussions said, although no obligations have been announced yet. China remains an important market for exporting the EU, and European leaders are reluctant to launch a high-profile trading war with Beijing. The EU and the Trump administration have fundamentally different approaches to trade conversations. Trump is eager to announce transactions quickly. The European Commission, the executive body of the BLOC, is in charge of the trade policy, but regularly communicates with its 27 member states to ensure they are on board with its approach. The process means that the EU often moves slowly – a central source of frustration for the Trump administration. According to a US official, Treasury Secretary Scott has expressed concern over the rate of trade talks with EU officials at a meeting of finance ministers in Canada this past week. The block has so far held the line against some of Trump’s claims. Officials said they did not intend to change the tax on the added value of the Trump, who criticized the Trump administration and considered the EU and many economies as non-discriminatory. It will also not change the health and digital regulations, officials said. An EU diplomat on Friday said it was difficult to know from Trump’s post whether the president actually intended to carry out his tariff threat. “You can’t base a social post of truth on a truth group,” the diplomat said. In a Fox News interview Friday, Bestent said he hoped the threat of 50% tariffs would “raise a fire under the EU.” EU trade chief traveled to Washington in April, armed with proposals to lower both sides’ industrial tariffs and for the EU to buy more US energy and soybeans, but left empty -handed. “The EU is doing its part,” a spokesman said after the meeting. “Now it is necessary for the US to define its position.” The US recently sent a document to the EU involving several areas on which the US wants concessions, including non -barriers as well as economic safety, a term often used to refer to the concerns about the economic domination of China. The reaction of the EU, which covers various trade issues, contains an indication that the block was prepared to work on China, people informed about the matter. The EU previously approved the rates for 21 billion euros of US imports, equivalent to about $ 24 billion, but stopped the duties after the Trump administration announced its 90-day break at some US rates. It also suggested that a second set of goods, worth up to 95 billion euros, was directed as negotiations with the US. Write to Gavin Bade at [email protected] and Kim Mackrael on kim.mack [email protected] Catch all the business news, market news, newsletters and latest news updates on live currency. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. More topics #ourope #tariff heke #united state read next story