Trump threatens more tariffs on Apple, European Union

President Donald Trump warned the tech giant on Friday morning to expect a 25% tax on all devices manufactured outside the United States. Any iPhones sold in America should be made in America, not India or any other country, he wrote. The president shared this expectation with Apple CEO Tim Cook long ago, Trump added. Apple stock dropped by nearly 3% on Friday morning. The president’s comments came after reports emerged that Apple supplier Foxconn planned to build a $1.5 billion manufacturing center in India.

What about the EU? About 20 minutes after his statement on Apple, the president issued another statement calling for a 50% tariff on the European Union starting next month. The EU’s trade barriers, value-added taxes, corporate penalties, and unjustified lawsuits against American companies are only some of the factors that have caused an American trade deficit of more than $250 million annually, he wrote. Trump proposed the 50% tariff after failed negotiations, according to the statement. The president also repeated his assertion that the EU was formed with the express purpose of taking advantage of the United States in trade.

How have EU leaders responded? French Foreign Minister Laurent Saint-Martin issued a statement on social media saying Trump’s threatened tariff increases were not helping trade negotiations between the United States and the EU. He added that both sides should de-escalate their trade policy—but insisted the EU was ready to respond if needed.

Dig deeper: Read my previous report on Trump proposing a 100% tariff on foreign-made movies.