Donald Trump threatens to impose 50 per cent tariffs on EU products

Donald Trump has threatened to whack the European Union with 50 per cent tariffs from June 1 after complaining that trade negotiations have stalled.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 50 per cent tariff on all European Union products beginning June 1, saying the bloc has been “very difficult to deal with”.

“The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The threat could be intended as leverage. The European Union’s trade chief, Maros Sefcovic, was set to have a call later Friday local time with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, per multiple reports.

US President Donald Trump is threatening major tariffs on EU products. Picture: AP

Mr Trump imposed a 90-day pause on his “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 9, leaving the door open for countries to negotiate with the US on a better tariff rate, while still leaving a 10 per cent rate on all countries but China.

The president has only negotiated a deal with the UK and a preliminary deal with China during the 90 days so far, although negotiations are ongoing.

“Our discussions with them are going nowhere!” he said of talks with the EU.

“Their powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies, and more, have led to a Trade Deficit with the US of more than $250,000,000 (A$390,000,000) a year, a number which is totally unacceptable.”

There could be room for the EU to negotiate in the window before June 1. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News, “I would hope that this would light a fire under the EU.”

Trump indicated last week that time could be running out to strike deals with all countries one-on-one, and his administration could be rolling out package rates soon.

Donald Trump wants to slap the EU with majotr tariffs. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

The UK deal came to a 10 per cent tariff on imports from the US ally, along with a promise to open the market to American agricultural goods. The agreement was said to be a “template” for how future deals will look, with Mr Trump’s economic team saying no deals will go below the 10 per cent rate.

The trade war with China — in which the rates got as high as 145 per cent — was temporarily resolved in trade talks held in Switzerland, with the levy going down to 30 per cent on China.

The rate was calculated by adding up the 10 per cent base rate with a 20 per cent tariff in response to Beijing not adequately stopping the flow of fentanyl.

The EU threat comes hours after Trump said he would impose a 25 per cent tariff on Apple’s iPhones if it doesn’t start manufacturing in the US.

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RUDD SEEKS ADVICE OVER TRUMP’S HARVARD BAN

It comes as Kevin Rudd is seeking more clarity about the impact of the US banning international students, including Australians, from enrolling in Harvard University.

The Australian Ambassador to the United States said he was “closely monitoring developments” at Harvard following the controversial move from Trump’s administration.

“I know this will be distressing for Harvard’s many Australian students,” Mr Rudd said in a statement.

“The Embassy is working with the United States Government to obtain the details of this decision so that Australian students can receive appropriate advice.

“We also intend to engage the administration more broadly on the impact of this decision for Australian students and their families both at Harvard and at other campuses across the United States.”

Kevin Rudd is seeking more clarity about the impact of the US banning international students, including Australians, from enrolling in Harvard University.

Donald Trump’s administration revoked Harvard University’s ability to enrol foreign nationals, putting the future of thousands of students at risk, with China slamming the “politicisation” of educational exchanges.

The US administration’s decision on Thursday threatened the prestigious university with a huge financial blow.

The school in Cambridge, Massachusetts quickly slammed the decision as “unlawful” and said it would hurt both the campus and the country, while one student said the community was “panicking.”

Donald Trump’s administration revoked Harvard University’s ability to enrol foreign nationals has been slammed by China. Picture: AFP

Trump is furious at Harvard – which has produced 162 Nobel prize winners – for rejecting his demand that it submit to oversight on admissions and hiring over his claims that it is a hotbed of anti-Semitism and “woke” liberal ideology.

The loss of foreign nationals – more than a quarter of its student body – could prove costly to Harvard, which charges tens of thousands of dollars a year in tuition.

“Effective immediately, Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor (SEVIS) Program certification is revoked,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a letter to the Ivy League institution, referring to the main system by which foreign students are permitted to study in the United States.

“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and co-ordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” Noem said in a separate statement.

Chinese students make up more than a fifth of Harvard’s international enrolment, according to university figures, and Beijing said the decision will “only harm the image and international standing of the United States.” “The Chinese side has consistently opposed the politicisation of educational co-operation,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

TRUMP’S DIVISIVE ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL’ MEGA BILL PASSES BY ONE VOTE

Meanwhile, the Republican-led US House of Representatives voted Thursday local time to approve Mr Trump’s sprawling tax relief and spending cuts mega-bill that critics warn would decimate health care while ballooning the debt.

The “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” — which now moves to the Senate — would usher into law Trump’s vision for a new “Golden Age,” led by efforts to shrink social safety net programs to pay for a 10-year extension of his 2017 tax cuts.

“Legislation of this magnitude is truly nation shaping and life changing,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson ahead of the largely party-line vote, which capped a marathon debate that went through the night.

“It’s the kind of transformational change that future generations will study one day. They’ll look back at this day as a turning point in American history.” The mammoth package passed along party lines — 215 votes to 214 — after Republican leadership quelled a rebellion on the party’s right flank that threatened its passage.

It is the centrepiece of Trump’s domestic policy agenda that could define his second term in the White House, and he took to social media to celebrate its success.

“’THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ has PASSED the House of Representatives!” Trump posted. “This is arguably the most significant piece of Legislation that will ever be signed in the History of our Country!” But the package had faced scepticism from Republican fiscal hawks who say the country is careening toward bankruptcy, with independent analysts warning it would increase the deficit by as much as $4 trillion over a decade.

UA President Donald Trump. Picture: AP

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicted it would boost the incomes of the richest 10 per cent while making the bottom 10 per cent poorer, through hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to health care and food aid.

The White House Council of Economic Advisors has made hugely ambitious projections, well outside the mainstream consensus, that the package will spur growth of up to 5.2 per cent.

And Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the bill “does not add to the deficit,” and would actually save $1.6 trillion through spending cuts.

But investors were unconvinced as the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note surged to its highest level since February on Wednesday, amid worries over the budget-busting bill’s bottom line adding to the $36 trillion US debt burden.

Democrats called the bill “devastating” for the middle class, pointing to CBO estimates that its cuts to public health insurance for low-income Americans would deprive 8.6 million people of coverage.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the bill “the largest cut to health care in American history … in order to enact the largest tax breaks for billionaires in American history.”

Mr Trump has seen his polling numbers plummet in his early months back in office, but success in the House for his signature legislation underlined his continued sway over the party’s quarrelsome and deeply polarised politicians.

The president had pressured the party to back the controversial package in a rare Capitol Hill visit Tuesday after it hit a series of roadblocks pitting conservative fiscal hawks against moderate coastal Republicans.

- with AFP

Originally published as Donald Trump threatens to impose 50 per cent tariffs on EU products