Breaking news! Trump threatens: add another 50% tariff! The EU officially fights back against Trump's tariffs!
Recently, the global tariff war has become increasingly fierce. On Monday, April 7, local time, the European Union held an emergency meeting and planned to take retaliatory measures against the US steel and aluminum tariffs, intending to lock in US products worth 28 billion US dollars.
At the same time, US President Trump posted on the social platform Truth Social yesterday (Monday), setting off a new round of tariff storms. He severely criticized China's retaliatory tariffs of 34% on US goods and threatened that if China failed to withdraw this measure on April 8 (the next day), the United States would impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods from April 9. In addition, Trump also stated that he would completely cut off communication with China on relevant talks.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, House Speaker Mike Johnson revealed that President Trump is currently negotiating with as many as 60 countries on tariffs. He said: "This strategy has only been implemented for about a week."
In fact, Trump obviously has no intention of stopping. Although the market has reacted violently to the tariff issue, he still publicly increased the tariff threat several times yesterday and insisted that he would not make concessions on key trade issues.
After the United States announced a new round of tariffs, its main trade rival quickly took countermeasures and announced a 34% retaliatory tariff on all American products. In response, Trump issued a statement on the Truth Social platform on Monday, saying that if the other side fails to withdraw the decision to impose tariffs by April 8, the United States will further increase the tariff rate to 50% from April 9. He wrote in the statement: "If the other side does not withdraw its 34% tariff measures based on long-term unfair trade practices by April 8, the United States will impose an additional 50% tariff on related products from April 9."
In addition, Trump also made it clear that if the other side does not make concessions, all requests for talks originally proposed by the other side will be terminated. The relevant agencies of the country announced last Friday that they would implement reciprocal tariff measures against the United States and strongly criticized Trump's approach, calling it "typical unilateral bullying" and believing that this approach is not in line with international trade rules.
Although there were previous media reports that Trump was considering suspending the implementation of the reciprocal tariff policy for 90 days, this news was quickly denied by the White House.
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In the relevant meeting, Trump made it clear that he did not consider suspending any tariff measures announced on "Liberation Day". He emphasized to reporters: "For a long time, the United States has been taken advantage of and squeezed by many countries. This situation cannot continue. We can no longer be the "foolish America" that is bullied by others."
On Monday morning, the White House also refuted the claim of suspending tariffs for 90 days through official channels. The White House's @RapidResponse47 X account posted a message saying: "Wrong. Fake news", and pointed out that the so-called "the president will announce a three-month suspension" in the title is purely fictitious. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung also expressed his opinion: "This is not true. No one can produce a transcript of this interview... because the president didn't say it at all."
The European Union officially fights back against Trump's tariffs!
According to the latest news, European Commission Trade and Economic Security Commissioner Šefčović made a series of important statements on the EU's tariff plan against the United States.
The EU's tariff plan against the US
Shefcovic pointed out that the EU's tariff plan against the US is divided into two parts: the first part of the tariff plan will be levied on April 15, and the second part of the tariff plan will be levied on May 15. EU member states will vote on countermeasures against US steel and aluminum tariffs on April 9. If the vote is passed, the above tariff plan will be implemented as scheduled.
The EU Commission's countermeasure plan follows specific passing rules, that is, as long as it is not opposed by 15 member states representing 65% of the EU population, the plan can be passed.
EU's response attitude and position
Shefcovic emphasized that the EU's position is to consider all available options comprehensively. The EU is ready to discuss zero tariff measures, which will not only apply to the automotive sector, but will also be extended to other industrial products. However, he also stated that the EU will not change the VAT system as an important source of income for EU member states.
The EU expressed its willingness to seek a solution through negotiations, but emphasized that the solution must be beneficial to both sides. Despite the EU's efforts, no effective contact has been seen so far to reach a solution acceptable to both Europe and the United States. Šefčović also emphasized that the time to take counter-tariff measures is urgent.
In response to the impact of US tariff policies, Šefčović made it clear that the EU is ready to use "all trade defense means".
EU member states' unanimous position
According to foreign media reports, in response to Trump's large-scale tariff measures, the trade ministers of EU member states have a highly consistent position and have expressed their readiness to take comprehensive countermeasures, including possible taxation of digital companies.
Germany related developments
In addition, there have been reports recently that Germany is considering withdrawing its gold reserves from the United States due to uncertainty in the economic policies of the current US government. According to reports, Germany has more than 1,200 tons of gold reserves in the vaults of the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States. At current prices, these gold reserves are worth more than 100 billion euros.
