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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Trump’s Misleading Justification for Higher Tariffs on Imports of EU Goods

Trump’s Misleading Justification for Higher Tariffs on Imports of EU Goods

The United States and the European Union have reached a preliminary trade deal to avoid a 30% U.S. tariff on imported goods from the EU that President Donald Trump threatened would go into effect on Aug. 1. Trump had argued that higher tariffs were needed because EU tariffs and nontariff policies “cause the large and unsustainable trade deficits” between the U.S. and the EU, but economists disputed that statement.