Trump threatens 25% tariffs on the EU as Brussels vows immediate retaliation

# Trump threatens 25% tariffs on the EU as Brussels vows immediate retaliation

Event date: February 26, 2025 - The president said new duties would apply generally, while the European Commission promised a firm and immediate response.

Tariff threat widens the transatlantic fight

Donald Trump has threatened to slap 25 percent tariffs on the European Union, saying the bloc was formed to screw the United States. Speaking at his first cabinet meeting, the U.S. president said he would release details of the latest tariff threat soon and that the levies would be "generally" applied.

The comments mattered because they were broad, not narrow. Trump said the tariffs would hit cars and "all other things," which points to a trade conflict that could extend across several sectors rather than a single product line. The Guardian report also said he has already threatened 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, though he had delayed those earlier moves before making the EU threat.

Brussels answered quickly. A European Commission spokesperson said the EU would react firmly and immediately against unjustified barriers to free and fair trade and would protect European businesses, workers and consumers from unjustified tariffs. That leaves little room for the sort of quiet diplomacy that sometimes follows tariff talk.

The European Union is the United States' third-largest trading partner, so the economic stakes are high. Bloomberg, as cited in the report, estimated that Trump's tariffs could hit as much as $29.3 billion of the bloc's exports. The EU had already said it saw no justification for tariffs on its exports and would respond to protect its interests.

The political stakes are just as large. French President Emmanuel Macron had recently met Trump in Washington and said he hoped he had persuaded him to avoid a trade war with Europe. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had also urged the EU to avoid unnecessary tariff wars. Those efforts now appear to have been overtaken by the president's latest warning.

Trump defended the tariff push on Truth Social, dismissing criticism that the duties would hurt the U.S. economy. He said the tariffs would drive auto manufacturing to Michigan, the state he said he won easily in the presidential election. The report said economists and even conservative publications had warned that the plan could backfire.

The immediate outlook is a standoff: Trump is threatening 25 percent tariffs, and the EU says it is ready to respond at once. That makes the next round of trade policy not just a negotiation over rates, but a test of whether either side wants to step back from escalation.