A European Commission spokesperson said the creation of the ‘world’s largest free market’ has been a boon for the United States.
President Donald Trump said on Feb. 26 that his administration would soon impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from the European Union (EU).
Speaking to reporters during a meeting of his Cabinet, Trump said, “We have made a decision, and we‘ll be announcing it very soon, and it’ll be 25 percent generally speaking, and that’ll be on cars, and all of the things,”
Currently, the EU has a 10 percent tariff on passenger cars, four times the rate of the U.S. passenger car tariff of 2.5 percent.
U.S. officials have also criticized European value added taxes of at least 17.5 percent.
Trump vowed in January to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico—two of America’s top three trade partners—over their alleged failure to curb illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
Those tariffs were set to take effect on Feb. 4. Following last-minute phone calls with the leaders of those nations, Trump agreed to pause the tariffs for 30 days to allow the countries to implement additional border security measures.
Speaking at the Cabinet meeting, Trump told reporters the EU is a different case from Canada.
“They don’t accept our cars. They don’t accept, essentially our farm products. They use all sorts of reasons why not and we accept everything of them,” he said. Trump added that the EU was formed to take advantage of the United States.
“That’s the purpose of it and they’ve done a good job of it—but now I’m president,” Trump said.
Asked what will happen if EU nations retaliate to the tariffs, Trump said “they can try, but they can’t.”A European Commission spokesperson said that the EU will “react firmly and immediately against unjustified barriers to free and fair trade, including when tariffs are used to challenge legal and non-discriminatory policies.”
“The EU will always protect European businesses, workers, and consumers from unjustified tariffs,” the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson defended the bloc’s trade policies, stating that the creation of the “world’s largest free market” has “been a boon for the United States.”
By creating a large and integrated single market, “the EU has facilitated trade, reduced costs for U.S. exporters, and harmonized standards and regulations across 27 countries,” the spokesperson said. “As a result, U.S. investments in Europe are highly profitable.”
Trump said earlier this week during a White House news conference alongside French President Emmanuel Macron that the 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada might be postponed again until April.
Asked for an update on those tariffs during the cabinet meeting, Trump told reporters that they would go into effect on April 2.
He also touted the benefits of such tariffs amid concerns they could lead to increased prices for Americans across the board, including for food, clothing, automobiles, alcohol, and other goods.
Some analysts fear the new levies could drive up fuel prices by 10 percent for Americans and upend decades-old oil trade from its top crude supplier.
Trump dismissed those concerns, telling reporters: “I think you’re going to see something that’s going to be amazing.”
“We’ve been taken advantage of as a country for a long period of time,” Trump said. “We’ve been tariffed but we didn’t tariff.”
Reuters contributed to this report.