Trump threatens 30 percent tariffs on the EU, Mexico

July 12, 2025 - 20:58

President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 30 percent tariffs on two major U.S. trading partners — the European Union and Mexico, Politico reported.

In letters posted to Truth Social, the president said each country would face the new tariffs starting Aug. 1, though he left the door open to further talks to bring down that rate, as he did in missives to other foreign leaders this week.

The new levies represent a 10-percentage-point increase for the European Union from the “Liberation Day” tariff rates Trump announced in April, and a 5-percentage-point boost from the 25 percent rate Mexico was slapped with in March related to the fentanyl crisis.

Together, the two trading partners account for about one-third of U.S. imports. The United States imported $605 billion worth of goods last year from the 27 nations of the EU, whose major members include France, Germany, Spain, and Italy.

It imported $505 billion from Mexico, a member of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that Trump negotiated during his first term to replace the 1990s-era North American Free Trade Agreement.

Leave a Comment