Trump threatens the rates for Apple iPhones and EU products

US President Donald Trump has said that he recommends a rate of 50% for all the goods of the European Union that is imported to the United States.

“Our discussions with them are not going anywhere!” He wrote on Friday in a message on social media. He said the new rates will start on 1 June.

The announcement marks an escalation of Trump’s trade war with the EU. He initially proposed a rate of 20% for most EU goods, but stopped until 8 July to 10% to make time for conversations possible.

The president also threatened to impose an import tax of 25% “at least” on iPhones that were not made in America.

“I informed Apple Tim Cook a long time ago that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not in India, or somewhere else,” Trump said.

“If that is not the case, a rate of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the US”

Since coming in again the White House, Trump has imposed various rates and threatened for countries around the world, which he sees as a way to stimulate American production and protect jobs against foreign competition.

A rate is a domestic tax that is levied on goods when they enter a country in proportion to the value of import and it is paid by the company that imports them.

The prospect that higher rates are being introduced at the entry into the US has rattled many world leaders because it will make it more expensive and harder for companies to sell goods in the largest economy in the world.

On Friday, Trump said that the EU was “very difficult to deal with” and that the block was formed “for the primary goal to benefit from the United States on trade.

“Our discussions with them are not going anywhere! That’s why I recommend a right 50% rate to the European Union, from 1 June 2025,” he added.

Trump said that no rate would have been charged if the product “built or manufactured in the United States”.

The president has taken rates on the import of the EU to the US in an attempt to tackle the long -term trade deficit of his country with the block that takes place when a country imports more than it exports.

According to US government figures, exports to the EU was $ 370.2 billion last year, while goods in the other way was $ 605.8 billion.

Trump has repeatedly complained about the export of the EU’s car, especially from Germany, to the US, with fewer vehicles that are sent the other way.

The EU has not commented on the last announcement.

The boss of car manufacturer Volvo said in response to Trump’s threat that customers would have to pay a large part of the cost increases as a result of rates.

Hakan Samuelsson said Reuters that a rate of 50% would limit the company’s assets to sell its ex30-electric vehicle made in Belgium over the Atlantic Ocean.

But he said he believed that there would soon be a deal. “It could not be in the interest of Europe or the US to close the trade between them,” he said.

While some higher rates have been paused by Trump, foreign cars have confronted a levying of 25% since April.

Trump’s warning comes to Apple after the tech giant said it was Shift in the production of most of his iPhones and other devices that are intended to be sold in the US away from China.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said earlier this month that the majority of the iPhones that will be on its way to the American market in India in the coming months, while Vietnam will be an important production hub for items such as iPads and Apple Watches.

All three most important stock markets in Europe, including the British FTSE 100, were on the market on Friday afternoon.