The EU is calling out the White House after President Donald Trump said on Friday that he’s hiking steel and aluminum tariffs to 50%, up from the current 25%.
According to Reuters, the European Commission responded just a day later, calling the decision reckless and warning that countermeasures are already in the works. Officials in Brussels said the new move will hurt both consumers and businesses on both continents.
A European Commission spokesperson said the bloc “strongly regrets” the new tariff increase and made it clear they believe the decision makes everything worse.
“This decision adds further uncertainty to the global economy and increases costs for consumers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic,” the spokesperson said in a written statement. They also added that the increase “undermines ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated solution.”
Trump pushes tariffs higher, blames China again
Trump made the announcement while speaking to a crowd in Pennsylvania, claiming that raising the steel tariff to 50% will help protect US producers. “This will even further secure the steel industry in the United States,” he said during the rally. The crowd cheered, but the global reaction was a different story.
That wasn’t the only trade jab Trump threw out on Friday. He also went online and accused China of breaking their trade deal with the US, writing on Truth Social:
“The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!”
Later that same day, speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said he might have a conversation with Xi Jinping, though he didn’t say when or why.
When asked to explain what China had actually done wrong, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC that Chinese officials were “slow rolling their compliance.” That’s the closest anyone in the administration has come to spelling out the alleged violation.
Just weeks ago, Washington and Beijing had agreed to scale back some of their high tariffs. Now, that agreement looks like it’s falling apart.
Back in the US, the legal fight over tariffs is already heating up. The US Court of International Trade ruled that the way Trump’s tariffs were set up was “unlawful,” and tried to block them. But just a day later, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stepped in and temporarily allowed the tariffs to continue while they review the legal filings.
The appeals court gave the Trump administration until June 9 to submit its briefs.
After that, the judges will decide what comes next. But that doesn’t mean things are settled. The White House has already said it’s ready to take the fight to the Supreme Court if it has to. And Trump isn’t backing down. On Friday, he said he’s confident he’ll “win” the case, even if it drags out.
Inside the administration, officials are also hinting that even if courts block the tariffs, it won’t stop the president. His economic plan is still built around tariffs, and nothing in the legal system seems to be changing that direction.
