Trump says the EU and UK are in line for tariffs, but deal is possible

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said trade tariffs would be imposed on the European Union and U.K., but signaled that a deal could still be worked out with Britain.

Trump has sent global markets into a tailspin after following through on his threat to impose import tariffs on the U.S.’ largest trading partners, applying a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada and a 10% levy on goods from China. The tariffs are set to come into effect Tuesday.

All three countries have slammed the levies. Canada has retaliated with its own sanctions on U.S. imports, with Mexico threatening to do the same. China said has it would file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization. 

Asked on Sunday about the prospect of tariffs on goods from the U.K. and European Union (EU), Trump told the BBC that both were acting “out of line,” but that the EU was behaving worse, and that tariffs could be imposed on the bloc “pretty soon.”

“They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our farm products, they take almost nothing, and we take everything from them. Millions of cars, tremendous amounts of food and farm products,” he commented as he arrived in Maryland. He said there was no timeline for imposing tariffs, but that they would come “pretty soon.”

As for Britain, with whom the U.S. has a more nuanced trade relationship, the president said that he believed a deal could still be reached.

“The .U.K. is out of line. But I’m sure that one, I think, that one can be worked out,” Trump said, adding that he was “getting along very well” with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

President Trump has long accused a number of America’s largest trading partners of exploiting the U.S., citing large and persistent trade deficits. Trump sees tariffs as a way to redress the balance, arguing that the policy will boost U.S. jobs and growth. Critics warn that levies will also hurt U.S. citizens, as costs are passed on to consumers.

The EU is seen as next on Trump’s tariff list, given it is the largest bloc to entertain trade with the U.S. and has come under frequent criticism for its persistent trade surplus with the States. European Commission data show that the EU had a trade surplus of 155.8 billion euros ($159.6 billion) with the U.S. for goods in 2023, but ran a 104-billion-euros deficit on services.

Machinery and vehicles make up the largest chunk of EU exports to the U.S. by product group, followed by chemicals, other manufactured goods and medicinal and pharmaceutical products. 

Trump on Sunday described the U.S.’ trade deficit with the EU as an “atrocity,” repeating his previous comments that the bloc had “really taken advantage” of its relationship with the U.S.

Officials from the EU have previously suggested that the bloc could respond to U.S. tariffs “in a proportionate way,” with the European Commission on Sunday echoing that it would “respond firmly.”

“Across-the-board tariff measures raise business costs, harm workers and consumers. Tariffs create unnecessary economic disruption and drive inflation. They are hurtful to all sides,” a Commission spokesperson said in a statement.

“At this time, we are not aware of any additional tariffs being imposed on EU products. Our trade and investment relationship with the U.S. is the biggest in the world. There is a lot at stake. We should both be looking at strengthening this relationship,” the commission spokesperson added.

The latest U.K. trade data shows that the U.K. had a trade surplus of £4.5 billion ($5.5 billion) with the U.S. in goods, in the four quarters ending in the second quarter of 2024. 

Economists have previously noted that the more balanced trade and “special relationship” between the two countries could allow Britain to escape relatively unscathed from a potential trade war.

The Labour government has looked to fly under the radar of Trump’s tariff wrath, with Finance Minister Rachel Reeves telling CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month that the U.K. was “not part of the problem” of “persistent” trade deficits that Trump wants to tackle.

On Monday, a British government spokesperson said, “We have a fair and balanced trading relationship which benefits both sides of the Atlantic,” in comments reported by Reuters. CNBC has requested further comment from the government and is awaiting a response.

The tariff threat is bound to be at the center of discussions when Starmer joins EU leaders in Brussels on Monday to discuss the region’s defense strategy. It’s likely that the risk of a trade war will be high on the agenda as Britain and the EU look to deepen economic and political ties five years after the U.K. left the bloc.

The prospect of tariffs comes at an already difficult time for the EU, as both the euro zone and the wider EU bloc are struggling economically. Data released last Thursday showed the euro zone’s economy flatlined in the fourth quarter, while the EU eked out 0.1% growth in the same period, from the previous quarter.

Strategists at Deutsche Bank said in a research note out Monday that any tariffs that Trump levied on the EU would deal a “serious blow” to the region’s economy, stressing “if the EU has to endure 10% tariffs, our economists’ analysis has previously suggested it would be worth 0.5-0.9% off GDP [gross domestic product] all other things being equal.”

Europe will likely be hit with some headline grabbing measures, according to Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank — but the bloc could look to do a deal with the transactional Trump.

“By raising military spending and ramping up liquid natural gas imports from the U.S., the EU will be able to avoid an escalating trade-war spiral with the U.S. If so, the trade tensions will restrain but not prevent a gradual firming of European growth from spring onwards after hardly any growth during the winter,” Schmieding said in emailed comments Monday.