U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday announced he’s levying tariffs of 30 per cent against the European Union and Mexico.
Trump announced the tariffs on two of america’ biggest trade partners in letters posted to his social media account.
In his letter to Mexico’s leader, Trump acknowledged that the country has been helpful in stemming the flow of undocumented migrants and fentanyl into america.
But he said the country has not done enough to stop North America from turning right into a “Narco-Trafficking Playground.”
Trump in his letter to the European Union said that the U.S. trade deficit was a national security threat.
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“Now we have had years to debate our Trading Relationship with The European Union, and now we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and protracted, Trade Deficits, engendered by your Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies, and Trade Barriers,” Trump wrote within the letter to the EU. “Our relationship has been, unfortunately, removed from Reciprocal.”
Trump is within the midst of an announcement blitz of recent tariffs with allies and foes alike, a bedrock of his 2024 campaign that he said would set the muse for reviving a U.S. economy that he claims has been ripped off by other nations for many years.
With the reciprocal tariffs, Trump is effectively blowing up the foundations governing world trade. For many years, america and most other countries abided by tariff rates set through a series of complex negotiations often known as the Uruguay round. Countries could set their very own tariffs – but under the “most favoured nation’” approach, they couldn’t charge one country greater than they charged one other.
With Saturday’s letters, Trump has now issued tariff conditions on 24 countries and the 27-member European Union.
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