Negotiations with US President Donald Trump are never completely closed. Just days after the so-called"Tariff Day" last Friday, when his administration confirmed the list of tariffs for different countries around the world, the Republican has threatened the European Union with raising the agreed-upon 15% tariffs at the end of July to 35% if Brussels fails to comply with what Trump considers the commitment to invest $600 billion (about €520 billion) in the United States. The US leader has also indicated that he could impose tariffs of 250% on pharmaceutical companies, the highest ceiling he has flirted with in public so far.
Trump's statements come less than 48 hours before the tariffs proclaimed on"Tariff Day" come into force and one day after the Twenty-Seven shelved for the next six months the package of reciprocal measures against the US that they had approved, to give space to the negotiation of the details of the agreement closed in Scotland between Trump and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
“They lowered their tariffs and paid $600 billion. That's why I lowered their tariffs from 30% to 15%,” Trump said in a telephone interview with CNBC. The US president described the European investment commitment as “a gift.” “[They're going to give us] $600 billion that we can invest in whatever we want,” he asserted. “And that's a gift, it's not a loan.” “They've been taking advantage of us for so many years that it's time for them to pay, and they're going to pay,” he added.
The pact between the Trump administration and the European club, a written version of which has not been released, establishes"zero tariffs" on a range of products. According to the limited details that have been released, in addition to the $600 billion in investments in the United States, Europe is committing to strategic purchases worth $750 billion in American semiconductors, gas, oil, and nuclear energy. It will also increase its purchases of military equipment from the allied country.
The president also announced that next week he will unveil new tariffs on the chip and pharmaceutical industries, similar to those he has already imposed on steel and aluminum. Regarding the pharmaceutical sector, he opined that"they make a fortune off of pharmaceuticals, and they produce them in China, Ireland, and many other places." Initially, the tariffs would be low, but next year they would be raised to"150%" and later to 250% to force companies to manufacture their drugs in the United States, he promised.
"Initially, we will impose low tariffs on pharmaceutical companies, but in a year, or a year and a half at the most, we will raise them to 150%, and then to 250%, because we want pharmaceutical products manufactured in our country," he noted in the interview.
One of the countries that would be most affected by this measure would be Switzerland, which counts the United States as its main market for its pharmaceutical companies. Trump has already imposed tariffs of 39% on the Swiss Confederation, given that the United States maintains a $48 billion trade deficit with it.
Faced with this situation, Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter is traveling to Washington to present a new proposal to the Republican administration to reduce these taxes.
One country that appears doomed to see US tariffs on its products skyrocket is India, which already faces 25% tariffs. Speaking to CNBC, Trump reiterated that he will dramatically increase them"in the next 24 hours" as punishment for New Delhi's purchases and resale of Russian gas and oil.
"They're feeding the (Russian) war machine, and if they're going to do that, I'm not going to be happy," the US president said, repeating a warning he has issued several times since"Tariff Day."
