President Donald Trump is giving European allies until the 4th of July to take action, or he’s threatening to raise tariffs.
The president, 79, announced his America’s birthday ultimatum in a Truth Social post after speaking with the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday.
“I’ve been waiting patiently for the EU to fulfill their side of the Historic Trade Deal we agreed in Turnberry, Scotland, the largest Trade Deal, ever!” Trump posted.
“A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO! I agreed to give her until our Country’s 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels,” he added.
The U.S. and European Union announced a trade agreement with a handshake last summer. The deal set a 15 percent tariff rate for most European Union goods, apart from tariffs in some specific sectors.
The EU agreed in return to remove tariffs on many U.S. goods, but not all of them and withdrew its threat of higher duties amid escalating tension.
After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the president’s global tariffs in February, Trump announced he was imposing 10 percent tariffs across the board, which he then upped to 15 percent.
European Union countries had been working to determine what the court ruling meant for last summer’s deal, but had demanded the U.S. stick with what it had previously agreed to.
While European lawmakers advanced the legislation in March to reduce tariffs, the process has been slow and is not expected to make it over the finish line before June as European officials struggle to negotiate the final text enabling it.
Trump’s threat on Thursday comes after he threatened last Friday to impose 25 percent tariffs on cars and trucks from the European Union “next week” as he has been frustrated with the slow progress.
He accused the bloc of not complying with last summer’s trade deal, which the European Commission rejected.
While Trump announced a new 4th of July deadline, he claimed in his post that he had a “great” call with von der Leyen.
The European Commission president also described the call as “good.”
On the trade deal, she wrote they remain “fully committed, on both sides, to its implementation” and said, “Good progress is being made towards tariff reduction by early July.”
