Trump fires new tariff threats at Apple and EU

US President Donald Trump has threatened to hike tariffs connected goods from the European Union to 50 percent. Photo: Jim WATSON / AFP
Source: AFP

President Donald Trump ratcheted up the US commercialized warfare connected Friday, threatening to enforce a caller 25 percent levy against Apple, and a 50 percent tariff connected the European Union.

Lamenting that negotiations with the EU "are going nowhere," Trump said connected Truth Social that helium is recommending "a consecutive 50% Tariff connected the European Union, starting connected June 1, 2025."

If the caller duties travel into effect, they would dramatically hike the existent US baseline levy of 10 percent, and rise economical tensions betwixt the world's biggest economy and its largest trading bloc.

In a abstracted message, the president said Apple had failed to determination iPhone accumulation to the United States contempt his repeated requests, and helium threatened caller duties of "at least" 25 percent if they did not comply.

Stock futures connected Wall Street fell connected the news, with Apple's stock terms plunging much than 3 percent successful pre-market trading.

The VIX volatility index, known arsenic Wall Street's "fear gauge," was up much than 20 percent.

'Difficult' negotiations

Last month, Trump imposed sweeping tariffs against astir countries, introducing steep duties for respective trading partners -- including the EU -- and sector-specific measures connected automobiles, alloy and aluminum not produced successful the United States.

Markets tanked pursuing the announcement, and a fewer days later, the US president announced helium would rotation backmost the higher levies to 10 percent for a 90-day intermission to let for commercialized negotiations, portion keeping the sector-specific measures successful place.

Since then, Trump has announced a woody to permanently rotation backmost immoderate sector-specific tariffs connected Britain, and different statement with China to trim prohibitively-high levies and retaliatory measures for 90 days.

The talks betwixt the United States and the EU person failed to marque overmuch progress, with Brussels precocious threatening to deed US goods worthy astir 100 cardinal euros ($113 billion) with tariffs if it does not little the duties connected European goods.

In his aboriginal greeting societal media station connected Friday, Trump said the EU had been "formed for the superior intent of taking vantage of the United States connected TRADE," and took a swipe astatine the "difficult" negotiations taking place.

An EU spokesperson declined to remark connected the threats of caller tariffs, telling AFP that a telephone was acceptable to instrumentality spot aboriginal Friday betwixt EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

US-made iPhones 'not feasible'

Trump's caller disapproval of Apple revived the unit connected main enforcement Tim Cook to bash much to bring manufacturing jobs backmost to the United States from Asia.

The problem, according to Wedbush Securities expert Dan Ives, is that reshoring iPhone accumulation to the United States "is a fairy communicative that is not feasible."

"This would effect successful an iPhone terms constituent that is simply a non-starter for Cupertino and construe into iPhone prices of ~$3,500 if it was made successful the US," helium wrote successful a enactment to clients.

This, helium added, "is not realistic," adding that it would instrumentality up to 10 years to displacement accumulation to the United States.

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Source: AFP