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Trump fires tariff rocket: 50% duties on EU products from June!
US President Trump announces 50% tariffs on EU goods from June 2025. Exporters are threatened with losses and worsened sales forecasts.
Trump fires tariff rocket: 50% duties on EU products from June!
US President Donald Trump announced today that he will impose 50 percent tariffs on a variety of products from the European Union starting June 1, 2025. This decision was announced via the online platform Truth Social and has received mixed reactions from international trade.
The mood among European exporters has already deteriorated. According to a recent survey by Allianz Trade, 42 percent of companies surveyed worldwide expect their export sales to decline by between 2 and 10 percent. Before the tariff increases in April 2023, only 5 percent of companies expected a decline in sales. This development was further exacerbated by the announcement of new tariffs, which more than halved the positive export forecasts.
Consequences for international trade
Global export losses are estimated at around $305 billion by 2025. The situation is particularly worrying in Germany, where 39 percent of those surveyed expect a decline in export revenues. Almost half of the companies surveyed worldwide also see an increased risk of payment defaults, particularly in the USA, Italy and Great Britain.
The probability of payment defaults has also increased in Germany, as 37 percent of companies predict poorer payment practices and 34 percent predict more payment defaults. To mitigate any negative impact, some parts of the new tariffs against the EU and China have been temporarily put on hold pending negotiations over the next 90 days.
Tariffs in the context of global trade policy
Tariffs are an important instrument in trade policy. They increase the prices of imported goods, protect domestic producers and can generate revenue for the state. Historically, tariffs have been gradually reduced worldwide since the 1950s to promote free trade. Nevertheless, since the financial crisis of 2008/2009, there has been a clear trend towards protectionism, particularly under the administration of Donald Trump, which has cast tariffs in a new light.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) once played a key role in reducing tariffs, but has no influence when countries increase them unless national security is threatened. The US has been critical of the WTO in the past, particularly regarding China's subsidies, and has blocked the appointment of new judges to the WTO arbitration tribunal since 2019.
Trump uses tariffs not only as an economic but also as a political means of pressure. At a time when the U.S. has a negative trade balance and receives limited revenue from exports, this aggressive trade policy could lead to a sea change in international trade.
Overall, the announced tariffs on European goods threaten to significantly strain trade relations between the USA and the EU and could destabilize global markets. Companies and business experts are required to find ways to deal with these changes and assess the impact on their own business activities.
krzbb.de reports that the new tariffs will apply from June 1, 2025, while faz.net the negative effects on exporters and flows of goods are highlighted. Further information on the background and global effects of the tariffs is provided deutschlandfunk.de.