US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he would impose a 30 percent import tariff on products from the European Union and Mexico starting August 1, Reuters reports.
Trump announced the new tariffs in separate posts on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Saturday. It's all part of a broader tariff offensive the president has launched in recent days, which earlier this week targeted Japan, South Korea, Canada and Brazil, as well as imposing a 50 percent tariff on copper.
The European Union had hoped in recent months to reach a comprehensive trade deal with the United States that would have provided zero tariffs on industrial goods. But after tough and fruitless negotiations, it increasingly looks like they will have to settle for a temporary agreement in the hope of negotiating better terms later.
Since Trump's re-election, he has imposed a series of tariffs, which are already generating tens of billions of dollars in revenue for the US Treasury every month. According to a statement from the Treasury Department, US customs revenues had exceeded $100 billion by the end of June in the current fiscal year.
He eventually suspended the tariffs announced in early April for 90 days after markets began to tumble and investors feared the additional burdens could trigger a global recession. But the deadline has passed, which is why the president is tightening the rules now.