Trump says talks with E.U. are 'going nowhere,' threatens 50% tariff in June

President Donald Trump on Friday threatened imports from the European Union with a sweeping 50% tariff, posting online that trade talks with the bloc are "going nowhere."

President Donald Trump on Friday threatened imports from the European Union with a sweeping 50% tariff, posting online that trade talks with the bloc are "going nowhere."

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote that he was "recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025." That rate would be higher than the 39% Trump promised to hit the bloc with on April 2's so-called Liberation Day.

Just minutes earlier, Trump had also threatened Apple with a 25% tariff if it does not start producing iPhones in the United States — an outcome industry experts broadly see as a nonstarter. "The concept of Apple producing iPhones in the U.S. is a fairy tale," prominent tech analyst Dan Ives said in response to Trump's threat Friday.

The early morning posts risked reigniting the trade war Trump started in April that had cooled down in recent weeks. His administration had been speaking positively about ongoing trade talks, even though it has so far secured few concrete economic wins. The president has backed down from some of his most severe tariffs, sparking a comeback for U.S. and global markets.

That rebound looked poised to reverse after Trump’s posts, with stock indexes in Germany, France and Italy each dropping nearly 3%. The Stoxx 600, which tracks hundreds of stocks across Europe, plunged more than 2%. Shares in the United Kingdom dropped more than 1%, even though it is not a member of the E.U.