Trump threatens more tariffs on European Union

By Safvan Allahverdi

WASHINGTON (AA) - President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose more tariffs on all European cars after the European Union’s decision to place a 25 percent tariff on U.S. products.

"Based on the Tariffs and Trade Barriers long placed on the U.S. and it great companies and workers by the European Union, if these Tariffs and Barriers are not soon broken down and removed, we will be placing a 20% Tariff on all of their cars coming into the U.S. Build them here!," Trump said in a tweet.

The 28-member bloc said it would impose tariffs on goods worth $3.2 billion, including Harley Davidson motorcycles and Levi's jeans.

The EU said the move was a response to Trump’s decision to impose steel and aluminum tariffs on European exports to the U.S.

Currently, vehicles shipped from Europe to the U.S. face a low 2.5 percent tariff. But reciprocal products in the U.S. face a 10 percent tariff when they are shipped to the EU.

In March, Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on imported iron and steel, and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imported from the EU, Canada and Mexico, citing national security interests.

The U.S. last week announced its decision to impose $50 billion worth of tariffs on China that has escalated trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.

The Trump administration also said it would impose measures to limit Chinese investment in the U.S. technology sector.