After lengthy negotiations with the EU, Donald Trump writes in a letter on Truth Social that EU goods will receive a tariff of 30 percent.

The tariffs will apply from August 1, the letter states.

Looking forward to continued cooperation

Trump writes that the United States has agreed to continue working with the EU, despite what is America's largest trade deficit.

"Nevertheless, we have decided to move forward, but only with more balanced and fair trade. That is why we invite you to participate in America's extraordinary economy, arguably the largest market in the world," Trump wrote in the EU letter, which is addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

"We have had several years to discuss our trading relationship with the EU, and we have decided that we must move away from these long-term, large and persistent trade deficits," he writes.

- Unfortunately, our relationship has been far from mutual, he adds.

Von der Leyen responds

In a statement on Saturday afternoon, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen responded that the EU has consistently prioritized negotiating a solution with the United States.

This is reported by the news agency Reuters.

- We are prepared to continue working towards an agreement by August 1, she says, but adds:

- We will take all necessary steps to protect the EU's interests, including introducing proportionate countermeasures if necessary.

She emphasizes that such a high tariff on EU products would be highly disruptive to transatlantic supply chains.

According to Von der Leyen, there are few economies in the world that match the Union's level of transparency and adherence to fair trade practices.

- He escalates the conflict

Chief economist Harald Magnus Andreassen believes the measure will hit the US more than other countries. He calls the tariffs self-harm on the part of the Americans.

- Trump is escalating the conflict sharply. Just a few weeks ago, few believed that the EU and Mexico would face such high tariffs. So far, the markets have not taken him seriously, Andreassen told Dagbladet on Saturday afternoon.

The chief economist believes that the markets now need to send strong signals that this is stupid. If they continue to assume that Trump will back down, these tariffs may well remain, he says.

"The situation is already out of control. Even though it is the Americans themselves who have to pay the highest price, the ripple effects will negatively affect the entire global economy," says Andreassen.

He believes that the high tariff that the EU now receives is also bad news for Norway.

- What is happening in the Norwegian economy can be easily explained by looking at the global economy and subtracting the effect of oil prices. If these tariffs remain in place and the world economy weakens, we will get another round of downward adjustments to growth, says the chief economist.

According to Andreassen, the new tariffs are at the highest level since the 1930s.

- After World War II, tariff barriers were dismantled, to everyone's great benefit. And the United States was at the forefront of that. Trump believes that the United States has lost from this, but that is not true. Everyone has won from the free flow of goods and services - including Americans, he says.

Have sent several letters

At the same time as the letter to the EU, the president published a similar letter addressed to Mexico, which also imposes a tariff of 30 percent.

On Saturday afternoon, Mexico responded that they would work to negotiate a new agreement with the United States before August 1st.

This week, Trump has sent tariff letters to 23 other countries. The tariff rates in the letters vary, for example, Brazil has been notified of a 50 percent tariff.

When the US president introduced the original tariffs on April 2 earlier this year, the EU received 20 percent, while Norway was imposed 15 percent.

However, the tariff break will still apply to most countries until August 1, with a basic tariff of 10 percent. Through the tariff letters, Trump has encouraged countries and companies to move production to the United States, as this will allow them to avoid tariffs.

The rationale is that the United States has a trade deficit with the outside world, and that high tariffs will encourage Americans to buy goods produced in the United States.

Tariffs are paid by American importers and go to the US treasury. They make imported goods more expensive, which affects consumers.

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