By Aamer Madhani
Bridgewater, N.J. (AP) – President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he would collect 30% tariffs on the European Union and Mexico.
In a letter posted to his social media account, Trump announced tariffs for two of the US’s biggest trading partners.
In his letter to Mexican leaders, Trump acknowledged that the country has helped to stem undocumented immigration and fentanyl flow to the United States.
However, he said he hasn’t done enough to stop North America from becoming a “drug trafficking playground.”
In his letter to the European Union, Trump said the US trade deficit poses a threat to national security.
“We have been years to discuss business relationships with the European Union. We have concluded that we must move away from these long-term, large and sustained trade deficits brought about by your tariffs and non-tariffs, policies and trade barriers,” Trump wrote in a letter to the EU. “Unfortunately, our relationship was far from each other.”
Trump said he was in the midst of a blitzed blitz of new tariffs with both allies and enemies, and that he was the bedrock of the 2024 campaign, setting the foundation for reviving the US economy, which he claims to have been torn apart by other countries for decades.
Mutual tariffs have effectively blown up the rules governing world trade. For decades, the US and most other countries have been curbing tariff rates set through a series of complex negotiations known as the Uruguay Round. Countries were able to set their own tariffs, but under the “most preferred country” approach, they were unable to charge more countries than they had claimed by another country.
In a letter on Saturday, Trump is currently issuing tariff conditions in 24 countries and the European Union of 27 people.
Original issue: July 12, 2025 8:55am EDT
