US President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to ratchet up his trade war once again, pushing for a 50 per cent tariff on European Union goods starting June 1 and warning Apple AAPL.O he may slap a 25pc levy on all iPhones bought by US consumers.<\/p>\n
The twin threats, delivered via social media, roiled global markets after weeks of de-escalation had provided some reprieve. The S&P 500 fell 1pc in early trading, the Nasdaq fell 1.2pc, and European shares fell 1.5pc.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s broadside against the EU was prompted by the White House\u2019s belief that negotiations with the bloc are not progressing fast enough. But his saber-rattling also marked a return to Washington\u2019s stop-and-start trade war that has shaken markets, businesses and consumers and raised fears of a global economic downturn.<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s attack on Apple, meanwhile, is his latest attempt to pressure a specific company to move production to the United States, following automakers, pharmaceutical companies and chipmakers. However, the United States does not produce any smartphones \u2014 even as US consumers buy more than 60 million phones annually \u2014 and moving production would likely increase the cost of iPhones by hundreds of dollars.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the optimism over trade deals wiped out in minutes \u2014 seconds, even,\u201d said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and Forex.com, in a note.<\/p>\n
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Friday that the 50pc EU threat will hopefully \u201clight a fire under the EU,\u201d adding that other countries have been negotiating with Washington in good faith.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with,\u201d Trump wrote on his Truth Social site. \u201cOur discussions with them are going nowhere!\u201d<\/p>\n
The European Commission on Friday declined to comment on the new threat, saying it would wait for a phone call between EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic and his US counterpart Jamieson Greer scheduled for Friday.<\/p>\n
Envoys from the 27 EU countries are also due to meet on trade in Brussels later in the day.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters in The Hague, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he agreed with the EU\u2019s strategy in trade talks with the United States, and said the EU would likely to see this latest announcement as part of the negotiations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have seen before that tariffs can go up and down in talks with the US,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The White House paused most of the punishing tariffs Trump announced in early April against nearly every country in the world after investors furiously sold off US assets including government bonds and the US dollar. He left in place a 10pc baseline tax on most imports, and later reduced his massive 145pc tax on Chinese goods to 30pc.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy base case is that they are able to reach an agreement, but I am most nervous about negotiations with European Union,\u201d said Nathan Sheets, global chief economist at Citigroup in New York.<\/p>\n
A 50pc levy on EU imports could raise consumer prices on everything from German cars to Italian olive oil.<\/p>\n
EU\u2019s total exports to the United States last year totaled about 500 billion euros ($566bn), led by Germany (161bn euros), Ireland (72bn euros) and Italy (65bn euros). Pharmaceuticals, cars and auto parts, chemicals and aircraft were among the largest exports, according to EU data.<\/p>\n
The White House has been in trade negotiations with numerous countries, but progress has been unsteady. Finance leaders from the Group of Seven industrialised democracies tried to downplay disputes over the tariffs earlier in the week at a forum in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe EU is one of Trump\u2019s least favourite regions, and he does not seem to have good relations with its leaders, which increases the chance of a prolonged trade war between the two,\u201d said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.<\/p>\n
Shares in Germany carmakers and luxury companies, some of the most exposed to tariffs, fell on the threats.<\/p>\n
Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson told Reuters on Friday that customers would have to pay a large part of tariff-related cost increases, and that it could become impossible to import the company\u2019s smallest cars to the United States.<\/p>\n
But he remained hopeful that Europe and the United States will soon come to an agreement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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