United States President Donald Trump has said he will impose a 25 percent tariff on imports from the European Union, claiming that the bloc was created to “screw” his country.
Speaking at the first meeting of his cabinet on Wednesday, Trump said a decision on tariffs had been made and would be announced “very soon”.
“It’ll be 25 percent, generally speaking,” Trump told reporters. “And that’ll be on cars and all other things.”
Returning to his regular talking point that the US is treated unfairly in trade, Trump claimed that the 27-member union does not accept US cars and farm products while the US takes “everything from them”.
The EU currently imposes a 10 percent tariff on US vehicle imports, which is four times the US tariff on European passenger car imports.
The US also imposes a 25 percent tariff on imported pick-up trucks.
“Look, let’s be honest, the European Union was formed in order to screw the United States,” Trump said.
“That’s the purpose of it, and they’ve done a good job of it. But now I’m president.”
Trump’s comments drew a swift response from the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, which said the world’s largest single market area had been “a boon” for the US.
“The EU will react firmly and immediately against unjustified barriers to free and fair trade, including when tariffs are used to challenge legal and non-discriminatory policies,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Credit: aljazeera.com
