President of the United States accuses the European Union of violating the trade agreement negotiated with Washington
US President Donald Trump today accused the European Union (EU) of violating the trade agreement negotiated with Washington and announced that, as a consequence, he will increase tariffs on cars and trucks manufactured by the bloc to 25%.
“I am pleased to announce that because the European Union is not complying with our fully agreed upon trade agreement, next week I will increase tariffs on European Union cars and trucks entering the United States. The tariff will be raised to 25%,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Trump insisted that “it is fully understood and agreed that if automobiles and trucks are manufactured in factories located in the United States, no tariffs will be imposed.”
“Currently, there are many car and truck factories under construction, with an investment of more than US$100 billion, a record amount in the history of vehicle manufacturing. These factories, with American labor, will open their doors very soon,” he added.
The North American President said that “nothing like what is happening today in the United States has ever been seen”, referring to the investment commitments of countries with which Washington signed trade agreements in exchange for a reduction in the so-called “reciprocal” tariffs it imposed.
It is not clear under what authority Trump will increase tariffs on the EU, after the Supreme Court invalidated, in February, many of those he had already established, thus dismantling the tariff scheme used in his trade war against the United States’ partners.
Following this setback, the President of the United States imposed a new temporary global tariff of 10% under a new legal framework, which should theoretically be extended by Congress in July.
In mid-2025, both sides reached an agreement in which the EU would accept a 15% tariff on most products shipped to the United States in exchange for importing most North American products at 0% tariffs.
The trade agreement still awaits ratification by Brussels, after the European Parliament requested a series of safeguards that would allow its implementation to be suspended if Trump threatens to impose new tariffs on the bloc or put its territorial integrity at risk, as occurred in January during the diplomatic crisis over control of the Danish island of Greenland.
