Trump announces 30% tariffs on EU and Mexico, starting Aug. 1

President Donald Trump said Saturday the U.S. will impose a 30% tariff on goods from the European Union and Mexico that will take effect on Aug. 1.

Trump revealed the new rates in letters to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, which he posted on his social media site Truth Social.

“Mexico has been helping me secure the border, BUT, what Mexico has done, is not enough,” Trump wrote to Sheinbaum.

Trump said that there will not be tariffs on goods from the EU if the 27-member bloc “or companies within the EU, decide to build or manufacture product[s] within the United States,” he wrote.

He said that if the EU or Mexico retaliates with higher tariffs, “then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added on to the 30% that we charge.”

The EU was seeking at least a preliminary agreement that would spare it from becoming the latest recipient of a letter from Trump dictating a new, across-the-board tariff on its exports to the U.S.

However, it still received a letter from Trump threatening new tariffs, despite both sides having recently signaled progress in their negotiations after Trump backed off a threat to slap 50% tariffs on the bloc.

The EU collectively sells more to the U.S. than any single country: Total U.S. goods imports from the EU topped $553 billion in 2022, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Total U.S. imports from Mexico were approximately $454.8 billion in 2022, according to the U.S. Trade Representative.

The two trading partners combined make up roughly one-third of U.S. imports.

“Imposing 30 percent tariffs on EU exports would disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains, to the detriment of businesses, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic,” von der Leyen said in a statement.

She said the EU remains “ready to continue working towards an agreement by August 1.”

“At the same time, we will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.”

The Mexican government said in a Saturday statement that a delegation met Friday with U.S. trade officials “to establish the permanent binational working group that will address the main issues in the relationship.”

They were informed at the meeting that they would receive new tariffs that would begin Aug. 1, according to the statement.

“We stated at the meeting that this was unfair treatment and that we disagreed,” the statement said.

“It is very significant that starting July 11, we established the necessary pathway and forum to resolve any possibility of new tariffs taking effect on August 1,” the statement continued.

Trump has sent similar letters to 23 other U.S. trading partners this week, including Canada, Japan and Brazil, setting blanket tariff rates ranging from 20% up to 50%.

The letters mostly frame the new tariff levels as a necessary part of the Trump administration’s efforts to quickly establish a more “reciprocal”…