TMTPOST -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent played down President Donald Trump ’ s threat of new 50% tariff on the European Union that could escalate the transatlantic trade war, pressing the bloc to speed up efforts to strike a trade deal.
"I think this is in response just to the EU ’ s pace," Bessent said of Trump ’ s threat when appearing on Bloomberg TV. "I would hope that this would light a fire under the EU." Bessent in the interview pledged the U.S. would have "several large deals announced" over the next few weeks.
The Treasury chief sought to soothe markets following Trump ’ s remarks rattling markets with higher than previously proposed reciprocal tariff rate of 20% for the EU on April 2, a date U.S. President Donald Trump proclaimed "Liberation Day".
Trump said on April 9 he has authorized a 90-day pause and "a substantially lowered reciprocal tariff" of 10% during this period, both effective immediately. The White House clarified that Trump ’ s announcement of a 90-day pause on tariffs means that the "tariff level will be brought down to a universal 10% tariff" during that time, while "negotiations are ongoing."
Bessent echoed his comments in another interview with Fox News on Friday, stating Trump is trying to "light a fire" under the EU.
"I would hope that this would light a fire under the EU, because... I've said before, [ the ] EU has a collective action problem here. It's 27 countries, but they're being represented by this one group in Brussels. So some of the feedback that I've been getting is that the underlying countries don't even know what the EU is negotiating on their behalf," Bessent said.
Earlier Friday, Trump vowed to slap a 50% tariff starting on June 1 as negotiations between the EU and the United Sates "going nowhere."
"The 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. Their powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies, and more, have led to a Trade Deficit with the U.S. of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable," Trump posted on his social media Truth Social.
The president in the post added that no tariff would be levied if the product is built or manufactured in the U.S.
Trump later Friday repeated his threat of 50% tariff. "I ’ m not looking for a deal. We ’ ve set the deal — it ’ s at 50%," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. But the president immediately added he is open to pushing back the deadline of June 1 if a European company makes big investment in the U.S. "If somebody comes in and wants to build a plant here, I can talk to them about a little bit of a delay," he said.
The threat came as signals that the U.S-EU negotiations initiated earlier this month were not preceding well emerged. Bessent last week said the EU suffered from a collectie action problem on trade. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday claimed that some trade negotiations had proved "impossible." "Like the European Union — it ’ s just very difficult because, you know, Germany would like to make a deal, but they ’ re not allowed," Lutnick said.
The top EU trade official called for respect following Trump ’ s remarks. "EU-US trade is unmatched & must be guided by mutual respect, not threats. We stand ready to defend our interests," said EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said after a call with Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. He added the bloc is fully engaged, committed to securing a deal that works for both.
