President Donald Trump keeps pressure on trading partners
Trump has threatened European automakers with a tax on imports if the European Union retaliates against his plan to slap tariffs on aluminum and steel.
Trump’s tweet suggested he is refusing to yield to U.S. business interests and foreign trading partners alarmed at the prospect of a trade war that rattled financial markets this week.
“If the E.U. wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on U.S. companies doing business there, we will simply apply a Tax on their Cars which freely pour into the U.S.,” Trump wrote on Twitter.“They make it impossible for our cars (and more) to sell there. Big trade imbalance!”
The United States imposes a 2.5-percent tariff on cars assembled in Europe and a 25-percent tariff on European-built vans and pickup trucks. Europe imposes a 10-percent tariff on U.S.-built cars.
Trump criticized Europe in remarks at a fundraiser, according to video posted online Saturday, and suggested they would not increase tariffs.
“The European Union: brutal. They’ve been brutal to us,” Trump said at a Florida fundraiser.“They’ve banded together in order to beat the United States in trade.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub