Donald Trump announces that European products will "soon" be taxed at 25%

He is carrying out his threat. US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday, at his first cabinet meeting at the White House, that European products will "soon" be subject to 25% customs duties .

"We have made the decision, and we will announce it soon, it will be 25%," assured Trump, the level at which Canadian and Mexican products should also be taxed from the beginning of April. This Tuesday, however, Emmanuel Macron "hoped to have convinced" the American president, during their meeting in Washington , not to bludgeon the European Union on customs duties.

The US president also described European integration, a project that Washington has pushed for decades, as rooted in an attempt to counter the United States. "Look, let's be honest, the European Union was designed to piss off the United States," he said at the same meeting.

Donald Trump accuses in particular the countries of the European Union - which export more to the United States than the other way around - of behaving "unfairly" towards his country. The White House tenant criticizes in particular the level of the value added tax (VAT), paid by consumers in European countries, which he likened to an additional customs duty on American products.

Faced with the materialization of the American offensive, the Europeans are preparing. Ursula von der Leyen and her team of European commissioners will visit India on Thursday and Friday, a way for the EU to send a strong signal of its desire to expand its trade and diplomatic relations in the midst of a crisis of confidence with Washington.

In recent months, the EU has announced a strengthened trade deal with Mexico, the resumption of negotiations with Malaysia, a new agreement with the South American bloc Mercosur and a "first ever" EU-Central Asia summit is scheduled for April in Samarkand (Uzbekistan).