President Donald Trump said on Friday (May 23) that he is recommending a straight 50% tariff on goods from the European Union starting on June 1, saying the EU has been hard to deal with on trade.

"The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with," Trump said on Truth Social. "Our discussions with them are going nowhere!"

Trump's trade negotiators are pushing the EU to make unilateral tariff reductions on U.S. goods, saying without concessions the bloc will not progress in talks to avoid additional 20% "reciprocal" duties, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is preparing to tell European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic on Friday that a recent "explanatory note" shared by Brussels for the talks falls short of U.S. expectations, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

INTERNET (MAY 23, 2025) (SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE - Access all) (MUTE)

1. SCREEN GRAB OF POST ON TRUTH SOCIAL BY U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, READING (English): "The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with. Their powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans Companies, and more, have led to a Trade Deficit with the U.S. of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable. Our discussions with them are going nowhere! Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. There is no Tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (FILE - APRIL 2, 2025) (U.S. NETWORK POOL – No use USA)

3. COMMERCE SECRETARY HOWARD LUTNICK BRINGING TARIFFS CHART TO TRUMP

4. U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SPEAKING WHILE SHOWING TARIFFS CHART

5. TRUMP SIGNING EXECUTIVE ORDER

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (FILE - APRIL 9, 2025) (EUROPEAN UNION - Access all)

6. VARIOUS OF PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION URSULA VON DER LEYEN MEETING WITH MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE TO THE EUROPEAN UNION

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (FILE - MARCH 13, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) (MUTE)

7. VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION BUILDING