WASHINGTON: United States (US) President Donald Trump on Friday said his decision to announce 50 per cent tariffs on European Union (EU) goods from June 1 is not a negotiating tactic, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
“I’m not looking for a deal,” Trump said in Washington. “But again, there is no tariff if they build their plants here.”
“They haven’t treated us properly,” the president added, referring to EU member states. “They haven’t treated our country properly. They banded together to take advantage of us.”
Trump has made tariffs a central plank of his economic policy since returning to office in January, seeking to force foreign companies to relocate production to the US.
In April, he introduced blanket 10 per cent tariffs on all US imports and threatened further measures on a wide range of countries and sectors.
The EU has since been locked in negotiations to avert the punitive duties, while preparing countermeasures on US exports. – BERNAMA-dpa
