Trump Says 25% Tariffs on Europe Coming – ‘EU Was Formed to Screw US’

US President Donald Trump lashed out at Europe on Wednesday, announcing new tariffs against the European Union and claiming that the group of nations was created to counter American power.

“I love the countries of Europe,” Trump said during his first cabinet meeting in the White House. “Look, let’s be honest. The European Union was formed in order to screw the United States.” 

“That’s the purpose of it, and they’ve done a good job of it,” he added.

The EU grew out of several other regional organizations that formed after World War II, gradually morphing into the economic and political group of 27 member countries that it is today. 

Trump complained that Europe has not been a good trade partner with the US.

“They’ve really taken advantage of us,” he said. “They don’t accept our cars. They don’t accept, essentially, our farm products. And we accept everything of them.”

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US President Donald Trump also said he’s open to European troops serving as “so-called peacekeepers” in Ukraine.

He said the US would levy a 25% tariff on European goods in the near future.

 “We have made a decision and we’ll be announcing it very soon,” Trump said. “It’ll be 25% generally speaking and that’ll be on cars and all of the things.”

When asked about possible retaliatory tariffs by the EU on American goods, the US president said he was not concerned. “They can try, but they can’t,” he replied. 

Trump similarly threatened high tariffs on Mexico, Canada, Colombia, and other countries to leverage concessions on a variety of policy objectives. 

The European Commission said it would make a strong response to any “unjustified” tariffs levied against the EU by the US. 

“The EU will react firmly and immediately against unjustified barriers to free and fair trade, including when tariffs are used to challenge legal and non-discriminatory policies,” a commission spokesperson told Reuters.

“The European Union is the world’s largest free market. And it has been a boon for the United States,” the spokesperson added.

Trump also claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin “wanted” the war in Ukraine and would not be open to ending the invasion if the American president had not begun pushing for negotiations earlier this month.