European countries will be subject to customs duties, “the only way” for the United States “to be treated correctly,” American President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday. European countries are “very bad for us. They treat us very badly. They don’t take our cars or our agricultural products. In fact, they don’t take much,” declared the American president. “So they are good for customs duties.”
Questioned at the White House, Donald Trump also assured that his government was discussing “10% customs duties on Chinese products, because [les Chinois] send fentanyl to Mexico and Canada,” which is ultimately consumed in the United States.
“China is aggressive, but it’s not just China”
“It’s probably for February 1st. This is the date we are looking at,” added Donald Trump, which corresponds to the date announced the day before for the application of 25% customs duties on Mexican and Canadian products. During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump had already denounced the United States’ trade deficit with the EU, comparing the bloc to “a little China”, which “benefits” from the world’s leading economic power.
-“We have a trade deficit with the EU of $350 billion,” he insisted Tuesday, “China is aggressive, but it’s not just China. Other countries are also major aggressors. The US trade deficit in its trade with the EU amounted to $131 billion in 2023, according to data from the White House Trade Representative (USTR) and is mainly concentrated on four countries, Germany, France, Ireland and Italy.
But the causes vary: the trade deficit with Germany is mainly of an industrial nature, while that with Ireland is largely linked to the installation of the European headquarters of large American groups on the island, which benefit from it. of its very advantageous tax system to reduce their taxes.
