Trump writes on his platform Truth Social that the discussions with the EU.
In an interview with Fox News, Finance Minister Scott Bessent says that Trump is frustrated over the pace of the EU and that the proposals received "do not hold the same quality as the proposals from other important trading partners have submitted".
He hopes that this will get the EU moving, says Bessent according to Bloomberg.
Elisabet Kopelman, US economist at the major bank SEB, believes that Trump's words should primarily be seen as a threat.
It's a sign that things aren't going well with the negotiations. They (the US and the EU) are not on the same playing field. It's a way for Trump to put pressure on the EU, she says.
Kopelman means that despite everything, the 50-percent tariffs can become a reality.
In a few days, perhaps, considering Trump's previous history. Then the question is what the EU responds. Maybe they've learned from China that it can pay off to escalate.
Wet blanket
Swedbank's chief economist Mattias Persson also sees the move as an escalation from his side, but emphasizes that the final word has not been said.
The tariffs are bad, but uncertainty is even worse. The very wet blanket is once again laid on the development ahead, he says.
The uncertainty also makes the European stock exchanges turn sharply downward after Trump's move, and even in the US, the futures turn downward on Wall Street. The Stockholm stock exchange also fell after the news, after previously having been on the plus side.
Trump accuses the EU of "trade barriers, VAT rates, ridiculous corporate fines, non-monetary trade barriers, currency manipulation, and unfair and unmotivated lawsuits against American companies".
To talk to the US
The EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic will talk to the US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during the afternoon, according to an EU source for TT.
Trump's government introduced 20-percent tariffs on all goods from the EU, but halved them to 10 percent in 90 days to give room for negotiations.
Trump has also introduced 25-percent tariffs on metals and cars that affect EU companies and has threatened with the same type of sectoral tariffs on medicines, semiconductors, and other goods.
