Trump Announces 30% Tariffs on EU and Mexico from Aug 1

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to impose new 30% tariffs on Mexico and the European Union effective from Aug. 1, launching the latest salvo in his ongoing trade war.
• Trump cited the U.S.’s trade deficit for the new levies in his announcements made via letters addressed to leaders of the country's trading partners on his Truth Social platform Saturday. 
• Trump has in the past week announced tariffs on Canada, as well as on more than 20 other countries and imports of copper.
• A Trump administration official said that like the tariffs unveiled on Canada on Friday, there was an exemption for goods from Mexico that comply with the free trade deal the U.S. has with both trading partners.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to impose new 30% tariffs on Mexico and the European Union effective from Aug. 1, launching the latest salvo in his ongoing trade war.

Trump cited the U.S.’s trade deficit with the two trading partners as the reason behind the new tariffs, announced in letters posted on his Truth Social platform Saturday. He said in both letters that there won't be tariffs if both trading partners, or their companies, "decide to build or manufacture product within the United States."

In his letter addressed to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU's enforcement arm, Trump said he would consider bringing down tariffs if the bloc offers “complete, open Market Access to the United States, with no Tariff being charged to us."

In his letter to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Trump said the country “has been helping me secure the border, BUT, what Mexico has done, is not enough. He added that “Mexico still has not stopped the Cartels who are trying to turn all of North America into a Narco-Trafficking Playground.”

A Trump administration official said that as for the tariffs announced on imports from Canada on Friday, there was an exemption for goods from Mexico that comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, as well as the energy and potash tariffs currently at 10%. The official noted in both cases that "no final paper has been drafted and no final decisions by POTUS been made."

Tariff Threats on EU, Mexico are Latest By Trump This Week

The announcements are the latest in a flurry of tariff threats by the president in a volatile week for U.S. trade policy. Apart from the 35% tariff unveiled on Canadian imports, also effective on Aug. 1, Trump has announced levies on more than 20 other countries in recent days as well as a 50% duty on copper imports.

Reacting to Trump's 30% tariff threat, the EU's von der Leyen said in a statement Saturday that such duties “would disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains, to the detriment of businesses, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic.”

She said the EU would continue to work toward striking a deal by Aug. 1 though noted it would “take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.”

UPDATE—This article has been updated to add the expected exemption for Mexico of goods that comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement per a Trump administration official.

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