After flubbing his planned doubling of tariffs on Canada, which saw Canada poised to lash back with stiff increases in the cost of energy exported from the province of Ontario to the US, US President Donald Trump is shifting his tariff focus to the European Union, but maintaining the same playbook.
Donald Trump’s brief standoff against Canada saw the US’s neighbor to the north make zero concessions. Canada is now on pace to impose a strategic package of tariffs against key US goods in retaliation for the US’s steel and import tariffs that went into effect this week, and trade terms under the USMCA trade agreement remain unchanged. Now, President Trump is looking to strong-arm the European Union, which imposed its own retaliatory tariffs on US whisky products in response to the US administration’s steel tariffs.
Donald Trump threatened via social media post early Thursday that he would seek to impose his 200% tariff on European wines and champagne. Donald Trump then resumed posting on his Truth Social account, again declaring that eggs, Crude Oil, and interest rates were all “down”, while also trying to rebrand the US’s “Free Trade” as “Stupid Trade” (sic).
Key quotes
US to shortly place 200% tariff on EU wine.
If the EU tariff is not removed immediately, the US will retaliate.
Egg prices are down, oil down, interest rates are down.
The US doesn’t have Free Trade. We have “Stupid Trade.” The Entire World is ripping us off.
Canada needs America, America does not need Canada.
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