On Saturday, the message came: From August 1, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, will introduce 30-percent tariffs on goods from the EU.
Trump has previously said that the tariffs can contribute to rebuilding the US economy. In the letter to the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, which was published on Trump's own platform Truth Social, the President wrote that the US trade deficit is a "national security threat". The President has also sent a similar letter to Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum.
The President thinks that the agreements should be better, and he sent out those letters to draw a line in the sand. We'll see how it develops, says Kevin Hassett to ABC News.
Warns of trade war
On Sunday, several European leaders have reacted to Trump's move. Italy's Prime Minister Georgia Meloni warns that a trade war between Western countries would "weaken us all".
Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz says to the German media company ARD that the tariffs would mean a setback for the country's economy, which has just begun to recover. He also says that he has had conversations with France's President Emmanuel Macron, von der Leyen, and Trump in recent days, and will place great emphasis on finding a solution.
Germany is the EU's largest economy. The country's Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil says to the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung that continued negotiations with the US are necessary. However, if the negotiations fail, the EU should take decisive measures to protect the union's economy.
EU waits
Ursula von der Leyen said earlier on Sunday that the EU will continue to wait to respond to the US steel and aluminum tariffs, in the hope of getting an agreement before August 1.
"The US has sent us a letter with measures that would come into force if there is no negotiating solution, so we will also extend the suspension of our countermeasures until the beginning of August", she says.
The EU's current decision to suspend countermeasures would have expired on Monday night.
On Monday, the US announced that the deadline for negotiations on US trade tariffs will be extended from July 9 to August 1. On the same day, Trump threatened 14 countries with tariffs of up to 40 percent.
