President Donald Trump threatened on Saturday to impose customs duties of 30% on imports from Mexico and the European Union from 1is August, after several weeks of unsuccessful negotiations with these major business partners in the United States to achieve a global agreement.
In an escalation of the trade war that has irritated the American allies and worried investors, Trump announced these new prices in separate letters addressed to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and to the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, published on Saturday on her social network Truth Social.
The EU and Mexico, both among the main trade partners of the United States, reacted by qualifying these customs rights as unjust and disruptors, while committing to continue negotiations with Washington for a broader trade agreement before the deadline.
The Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said she was confident in the possibility of reaching an agreement. “I have always said that in this kind of situation, you have to keep your head cool to deal with any problem,” she said during an event in the Mexican state of Sonora.
“We also clearly know on what points we can work with the American government, and on what points we cannot. And there is one thing that is never negotiable: the sovereignty of our country, ”she added.
Trump sent similar letters to 23 other business partners this week, including Canada, Japan and Brazil, setting customs duties ranging from 20% to 50%, as well as a 50% right on copper.
The President said that the 30% rate was “separate from all sectoral rights”, indicating that 50% taxes on steel and aluminum as well as the 25% tariff on automotive imports would remain in force.
The deadline of 1is August leaves time for targeted countries to negotiate agreements likely to reduce threatened prices. Some investors and economists, however, recall Trump’s trend to return to his pricing threats.
This series of letters shows Trump’s return to an aggressive commercial posture, similar to that adopted in April when he had announced a salvo of reciprocal customs duties which had dropped the markets, before the White House postponed their implementation.
“Treatment inequitable”
But while the US scholarship reaches historical heights and the American economy remains resilient, Trump shows no slowdown in his trade war.
He had promised to use the 90-day period granted in April to conclude dozens of new trade agreements, but has only obtained framework agreements with the United Kingdom, China and Vietnam.
The EU hoped to reach a global trade agreement with the United States for all 27 member countries.
In his letter to the EU, Trump demanded the abolition of European customs duties. “The European Union will have to allow total and open access to the American market, without any customs rights, in order to reduce the broad trade deficit,” he wrote.
Ursula von der Leyen estimated that 30% customs duties “would disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains, to the detriment of companies, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic”.
She also declared that if the EU would continue its efforts for a trade agreement, it “will take all the measures necessary to safeguard the interests of the EU, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if necessary”.
The Mexican Ministry of the Economy said on Saturday that it has been informed that an American letter would be sent at a meeting on Friday with US officials.
“We mentioned during the round table that it was an inequitable treatment and that we did not agree,” the ministry said in a statement.
Rate for Mexico lower than Canada
The level of customs duties proposed for Mexico is lower than that of Canada (35%), the two letters evoking fentanyl flows, although government data show that the amount of drugs entered on the Mexican border is significantly higher than that entered on the Canadian border.
“Mexico helps me secure the border, but what Mexico does is not enough. Mexico has still not stopped the cartels that try to transform all of North America into a playground in narcotic trainers, “wrote Trump.
China is the main source of chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl opioid. According to American authorities, only 0.2% of the fentanyl seized in the United States comes from the Canadian border, while the vast majority comes from the American-Mexican border.
Mexico exports more than 80% of its goods to the United States and free trade with its northern neighbor enabled Mexico to become the first trade partner in the United States in 2023.
The EU initially hoped to reach a global trade agreement, but recently revised its ambitions downwards, favoring a framework agreement similar to that concluded by the United Kingdom, leaving details to subsequent negotiations.
The European block faces contradictory pressures: Germany, industrial heavy goods vehicle, pushes for a quick agreement in order to protect its industry, while other members, such as France, believe that European negotiators must not yield to an unbalanced agreement dictated by Washington.
Bernd Lange, president of the European Trade Commerce Commission, said Brussels should adopt countermeasures on Monday. “It’s a slap for negotiations. This is not how we treat a key trading partner, “he told Reuters.
Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, principal researcher in the Brussels Brussels Think Tank Bruegel, believes that Trump’s letter increases the risk of retaliatory measures from the EU, like the outbreak of tensions between the United States and China that had shaken the financial markets.
“American and Chinese customs duties increased together, then came back down together. Not completely, but all the same, “he said.
Since returning to the White House, the tank cascade signed by Trump has generated tens of billions of dollars of new monthly revenue for the United States government. Revenues from American customs duties exceeded $ 100 billion in federal financial year until June, according to US Treasury data published on Friday.
These tariff measures have also set diplomatic relations with some of the closest allies in the United States.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said last week that Japan had to reduce his dependence on the United States. The showdown on customs duties also pushed Canada and some European allies to reconsider their security dependence in Washington, some considering the purchase of non -American armaments systems.