EU calls for 'respect' after Trump pushes for 50% tariffs

The European Commission has urged the U.S. to bring respect, not threats, to trade talks after President Donald Trump pushed for a 50 percent tariff on EU goods.

Insisting the European Union was committed to securing a deal that worked for both sides, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic spoke with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he is "recommending" a massive 50 percent levy on the EU starting on June 1 since talks with them "are going nowhere".

"I'm not looking for a deal, we've set the deal, it's at 50 percent," he told reporters later, speaking  in the Oval Office.

The European Commission, which oversees trade policy for the 27-nation bloc, remained ready to work in good faith, Marcos Sefcovic said.

"EU-U.S. trade is unmatched & must be guided by mutual respect, not threats. We stand ready to defend our interests," he wrote in a post on X.

After Trump's announcement on EU tariffs, major stock indices dropped, the dollar weakened against key currencies, and the euro gave up some of its earlier gains.

Polish deputy economy minister Michal Baranowski, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the tariff threat appeared to be a negotiating ploy.

"The European Union and the United States are negotiating," he told reporters in Brussels, adding negotiations could last until early July.

"The fact that we see some important statements in the public domain does not mean that they will translate into actions of the U.S. administration," he said.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said the EU would stick to the path it had chosen.

"We have seen that tariffs can go up and down in talks with the U.S," he told reporters in The Hague.

The EU is already hit with 25 percent U.S. import tariffs on steel, aluminum, and cars, along with so-called 'reciprocal' tariffs of 10 percent on nearly all other goods, a rate set to double to 20 percent once Trump's 90-day pause ends on July 8.