Trump’s threat comes a week after the top EU trade official, Maroš Šefčovič, traveled to Washington to meet with Trump administration officials and came away reassured that the deal between the two countries remained solid.
At the time, Šefčovič said he “was reassured by Ambassador [Jamieson] Greer, by all my interlocutors, that a deal is a deal for both sides. … And for us, the terms of the deal and all the terms and conditions there are absolutely fundamental for being implemented and fulfilled.”
Those remarks came despite lingering trade tension between the two partners. The EU has chafed at how many products are being hit with U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, and the U.S. has been frustrated with the plodding pace of the EU’s implementation of their end of July deal.
While the European parliament passed legislation in March that would lower tariffs on U.S. goods, the bloc still has to negotiate the deal with its member capitals and the European Commission.
“President Trump’s behaviour is unacceptable; we in the EU, in the European Parliament, are honouring the Scotland deal. We are currently drafting the legislation; we have a parliamentary position and aim to finalise this in June. However, the US has repeatedly breached the agreement, for example with over 400 products containing steel and aluminium, which are now subject to an average tariff of 26 per cent,” Bernd Lange, a German Social Democrat and chair of the International Trade Committee in the European Parliament, said in a statement Friday.
“This latest move demonstrates just how unreliable the US side is,” he continued. “We have already witnessed these arbitrary attacks from the US in the case of Greenland; this is no way to treat close partners. Now we can only respond with the utmost clarity and firmness, drawing on the strength of our position.”
The U.S. tariffs on EU automobiles and auto parts were issued under Section 232, which focuses on specific industries. That power was not affected by the February Supreme Court ruling overturning some of Trump’s tariffs, which gives the administration broad flexibility to quickly ratchet up the duties on the sector.
Those auto tariffs played a significant role in driving the EU to the bargaining table last summer, putting pressure on Germany’s signature automobile industry, including major brands like Volkswagen, BMW and Audi.
Koen Verhelst contributed to this article.