Trump Threatens EU, Smartphones as Tariff Rhetoric Escalates

President Donald Trump dug in on his threat to impose a 50% tariff on the European Union and said a potential 25% charge on smartphones would apply to all foreign-made devices, in the latest escalation of a trade war that is rattling markets and confusing businesses.

Trump on Friday reiterated his complaints about the EU, accusing the bloc of slow-walking negotiations and unfairly targeting US companies with lawsuits and regulations. The president downplayed the ability of the EU to avoid a higher tariff rate, which he said would hit June 1. “We’ve set the deal. It’s at 50%,” he said.

“They don’t go about it right,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I just said, it’s time that we play the game the way I know how to play the game.”

Separately, the president said that a potential 25% tariff he threatened in a social media post Friday morning against Apple Inc. smartphones would also apply to devices from Samsung Electronics Co. “and anybody that makes that product,” and that his administration was moving to impose the levy by the end of June.

“Otherwise it wouldn’t be fair,” Trump said.

Taken together, the threats — which could dramatically reshape US trade on key consumer products — delivered a fresh shock for investors.

Equities extended losses after Trump said he was “not looking for a deal” with Brussels. The S&P 500 dropped 0.7%, down for a fourth straight day. The Nasdaq 100 slid 0.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%. Apple led a selloff in tech, falling more than 3%.

The president’s missives, first posted early Friday, represented a fresh round of trade brinkmanship after previously indicating he was looking to wind down talks with partners over his April 2 duties, which he paused for 90 days to allow for negotiations.

Trump’s attention this week has mostly been focused on a massive tax and spending package currently being considered by the US Congress.

Trump dismissed concerns that his moves could result in higher prices for Americans, predicting that foreign countries and companies could absorb the cost of the tariffs — or would move manufacturing to the US. Still, he acknowledged that some costs could be passed on to consumers.

“Sometimes the country will eat it. Sometimes Walmart will eat it, and sometimes it’ll be something to be paid, something extra,” Trump said.

The defiant tone came despite top administration officials saying earlier Friday that Trump was primarily seeking to drive US trading partners and international corporations to strike better deals.

“The president was getting frustrated with the EU,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Bloomberg Television earlier Friday. In a previous interview on Fox News, Bessent expressed hope “this would light a fire under the EU.”

The pivot was a notable change in tone from a Group of Seven finance ministers’ meeting earlier this week, where the US Treasury secretary appeared keen on improving relations with Europe, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

Separately, Trump posted to social media that he already told Apple the company’s popular smartphones should be made in the US and that he was nonplussed by its effort to partially move production from China to India. The comments came days after a meeting between the president and Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, which was disclosed by a White House official.

“I had an understanding with Tim that he wouldn’t be doing this. He said he’s going to India to build plants. I said, ‘that’s OK to go to India, but you’re not going to sell into here without tariffs.’”

Earlier: US Tariff Countdown Has Nations Racing to Turn Talks Into Deals

Trump’s latest posturing comes after the EU earlier this week shared a revived trade proposal with the US in a bid to jump-start talks. The EU’s trade chief, Maros Sefcovic, held a call with Jamieson Greer, his US counterpart, on Friday to take stock of negotiations.