President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened tariffs on two major US trading partners, the European Union and Mexico, Politico reported.
In a letter posted to the Truth Society, the president said countries will face new tariffs starting August 1, but he has left further consultations open to lower the rate, as he did with other foreign leaders this week.
The new tax represents a 10% increase in the European Union from the “liberation day” tariff rate that Trump announced in April, with a 5% increase from Mexico’s 25% slapped in March in connection with the fentanyl crisis.
Together, the two trading partners account for about a third of US imports. Last year, the US imported $605 billion worth of goods from 27 EU countries. Its main members include France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
It imported $550 billion from Mexico, a member of the US-Mexico-Canada agreement that Trump negotiated during his first term in place of the North American Free Trade Agreement in the 1990s.