All posts tagged "European Union"

Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman offered a scathing review of Trump's recent threat against a key American ally.

In March, Trump warned of a complete trade cutoff with Spain after the country refused to allow U.S. military bases for operations against Iran. Even though Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was unfazed, Trump again threatened to ignite a trade war with Spain during an outburst at the NATO summit in Turkey.

"It was completely crazy," Krugman said in a Substack post on Wednesday. "This is not something that is real, except that the President of the United States did say this."...

The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority may not automatically come to the rescue of President Donald Trump's tariff fight in the way he expects them to, according to reporting from Politico.

The legal challenges to Trump's worldwide tariffs have caused a whiplash effect over the past two days; on Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Trump exceeded his legal authority when he imposed the emergency tariffs during his "Liberation Day" announcement in April.

Then on Thursday, a federal appeals court paused that ruling, temporarily restoring the president's ability to impose the tariffs on nations from China to the European Union as he sees fit....

Critics mocked Treasury secretary Scott Bessent's trade war promises when interrogated by Fox News's Bill Hemmer on Friday.

The interview came after President Donald Trump threatened 50% tariffs on the European Union and 25% tariffs on Apple iPhones that are not made in the United States. His Truth Social announcement caused the stock markets to plummet.

Even those on the right seemed concerned about Bessent's answers, with @JohnBoyCali — whose bio says he's "anti-radical democrats" — posted to X, "Scott Bessent seemed more cautious than usual this AM on Fox. I wonder what the real reason is? Maybe to lower expectations a bit?"...

Critics of President Donald Trump denounced Friday's announcement that he was "recommending" huge tariffs on the European Union as well as Apple, which — once again — caused the stock markets to take a dive.

Trump posted on social media that he was punishing the EU for being "very difficult to deal with" on trade by "recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025."

Trump also threatened Apple with a 25% tariff for not manufacturing iPhones in the United States....

CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale had his hands full Thursday after President Donald Trump held a lengthy cabinet meeting to discuss everything from the trade deficit with China to his repeated claims about immigrants coming from "mental institutions and insane asylums."

Dale intimated that there was so much information to verify that he would "stick mostly to the big news of the day" during his appearance with Boris Sanchez and Brianna Keilar.

"President Trump keeps saying that the U.S. has $1 trillion trade deficit with China — that's about quadruple the actual figure, which was $263 billion last year," Dale began. "If you only count trade and goods, and don't count trade and services, it's about $295 billion. So, still, nowhere close." ...

Strongman Viktor Orbán's Hungary stood fast in it support of President Donald Trump Wednesday, becoming the only European nation voting against imposing reciprocal trade tariffs, according to new reporting in Politico.

The other 26 countries in the European Union voted to retaliate with 25% tariffs on some $23 billion of U.S. products. Politico reported that 14 EU countries would have needed to vote against the retaliation, "which had been seen as unlikely considering the shows of unity in recent weeks."

After the vote, the European Commission said in a statement, "The E.U. considers U.S. tariffs unjustified and damaging, causing economic harm to both sides, as well as the global economy. The E.U. has stated its clear preference to find negotiated outcomes with the U.S., which would be balanced and mutually beneficial."...