U.S. President Donald Trump said he is planning to announce tariffs of up to 25 percent on goods from the European Union.
Trump, speaking to press after the first meeting of his administration’s cabinet secretaries, said he is planning to announce tariffs of up to 25 percent on a range of goods “soon.”
“We have made a decision, we’ll be announcing it very soon, and it’ll be 25 percent generally speaking,” Trump said. “That will be on cars and all other things.”
Trump also claimed the E.U. was formed to “screw the United States.” He did not elaborate on the details of what goods the tariffs would target.
During the cabinet meeting, Trump also mentioned the 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which he implemented via executive order on 3 February. He ultimately paused those tariffs one day later for one month and announced on his Truth Social social media platform that Canada has “agreed to ensure we have a secure Northern Border” as part of a CAD 1.3 billion (USD 917 million, EUR 874 million) border plan – which the country had previously announced in December 2024. He also said Mexico made similar promises to increase border security and similarly paused the tariffs for a month.
That one-month delay is approaching its end, and on 25 February, Trump said that the tariffs on Canada and Mexico would be going forward.
“We’re on time with the tariffs, and it seems like that’s moving along very rapidly,” Trump said during a news conference with French President Emmanual Macron.
However, Trump also said that the “reciprocal” tariffs were on schedule to begin as soon as 2 April – which raises questions about when the tariffs will actually start given that would mean a delay of another month.
“The tariffs go on, not all of them, but a lot of them,” Trump said of the April deadline, according to reporting by Bloomberg. “I think you’re going to see something that’s going to be amazing.”
The White House later said the tariffs remain on track for 4 March and that Trump had not decided whether to grant another extension.
Recently confirmed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the 30-day reprieve given to Canada and Mexico was to see if they would stop illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling at the border, and if they have, Trump would “give them a pause or he won’t.”
Lutnick’s comments added to the confusion, as the original order, “Imposing Duties to Address the Flow of Illicit Drugs Across our Northern Border,” specifically said the tariffs were related to stopping drugs.
Peter Quinter, a U.S. customs and international trade attorney at Florida-based law firm Gunster, told SeafoodSource the initial delay may have undermined the legal basis for Trump to impose the tariffs.
“The delay proves that there really is no ‘national emergency,’ which was the pretext by Trump to announce these extraordinary tariffs,” Quinter said.
Regardless, Quinter said he predicts the tariffs will go into place sooner or later.
“The resulting higher prices are to follow. U.S. companies will continue to spread the supply chain away from China, but the chaos that Trump created with additional tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and eventually the E.U. has created chaos among U.S. executives to know where to focus sourcing merchandise,” he said.
