President Donald Trump‘s tariff frenzy continues as he threatened a 50% tariff for trade with the European Union. A situation similar to the US-EU trade war arose after Trump said “I’m not looking for a deal” on social media. “We’ve set the deal – it’s at 50%” the post mentioned. Citing the lack of progress and that the “discussions were going nowhere” the executive order from the White House was open for a delay but not an exemption.

However, the European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic took to X after the US-EU talks did occur earlier today and shared that, “The EU’s fully engaged, committed to securing a deal that works for both.” This firm but cooperative response signalled “good faith” and the intent to strike a deal based on “respect”.

EU President Ursula von der Leyen gave a statement that further clarified their stance on Trump’s threats. While a “zero-for-zero” tariff offer was raised, she said that,”if and where negotiations fail, we also will act.”

The 50% tariff is more than the double initial reciprocal tariff rates of 20% that were in place in April 2025 which followed a 90-day pause. In 2024, US ran a $236 billion trade deficit with the EU as per US Commerce Department data. While they expressed an affirmation to strike a deal, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed in a previous TV interview that “EU proposals have not been of the same quality that we’ve seen from out other important trading partners” pointing out EU’s “collective action problem” as per Bessent.

Following the post, three major EU stock indices saw a steep downwards trend. The STOXX600 benchmark was down 1.7%. Germany’s DAX fell 2.4% and France’s CAC slid 2.2%. Irish PM Micheal Martin warned that these tariffs would not only “push prices up, they would grievously damage one of the world’s most dynamic and significant trading relationship”.

The 50% EU tariff threat comes after Trump threated leading tech-company, Apple with a 25% tariff if productions were not moved to the US. Based on Bessent, however, Trump did have talks with CEO Tim Cook but it was revealed that the discussions went well. With the power to disrupt global trend, Trump’s tariff frenzy has continued to hurt trade-ties and increase friction. The US-EU trade corridor is a long standing agreement and fresh threats directly target the core pillar of global commerce.