European Union prepares to cut U.S. import duties to avoid Trump tariff hike

admin — Tue, 19 May 2026 10:21:00 +0000

President Donald Trump threatened to impose higher taxes. File
| Photo Credit: AP

European Union (EU) negotiators were expected to agree on Tuesday (May 19, 2026) to scrap import duties on ⁠U.S. goods to comply with the trade deal struck with the United States last year and ward off U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of much higher tariffs.

Under ‌the terms of the deal struck at Mr. Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland last July, the EU agreed to ‌remove import duties on U.S. industrial goods and grant preferential access ‌to U.S. ⁠farm and sea produce. In exchange, the United States ⁠would impose tariffs of 15% on most EU goods.

However, nearly 10 months on, the European Parliament and the Council, the body representing EU governments, still have to agree on a legislative text before the ‌EU duty reductions can enter force, with the main divisions over safeguards in case Mr. Trump reneges on the agreement.

Negotiators from the Parliament and Council will meet for what was expected to be a final ‌round of talks starting at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT). EU lawmakers involved in the negotiations were confident a deal would be struck late on Tuesday (May 19, 2026) or very early on Wednesday (May 20, 2026).

U.S. President Donald Trump set July 4 deadline

Mr. Trump has said he would impose much higher tariffs on EU goods including cars if the European Union (EU) did not implement its trade ‌deal commitments by July 4, having earlier threatened to raise tariffs on EU car imports to 25% from the current 15%.

EU lawmakers have twice paused the required legislation after Mr. Trump’s threats to impose new tariffs on European allies who did not back his proposed acquisition of Greenland and after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down his global ‌tariffs.

Assuming a deal is reached, then the bloc should meet Mr. Trump’s July 4 deadline, with a final vote of approval in the European Parliament then expected in mid-June.

EU lawmakers want tougher safeguards, including ⁠a “sunrise clause” under which the EU would only cut duties when the ⁠United States fulfilled its side of the deal, the possibility to suspend the deal if the U.S. breached the terms, and ‌a “sunset clause” to end EU tariff concessions on March 31, 2028.

EU governments have had less appetite for inserting such items, concerned they could antagonise the Trump administration and create uncertainty for EU businesses.

Published – May 19, 2026 03:51 pm IST

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Trump repeats tariffs threat to dissuade BRICS nations from replacing U.S. dollar

admin — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 04:52:18 +0000

President Donald Trump speaks as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House on Thursday (January 30, 2025) in Washington.
| Photo Credit: AP

President Donald Trump on Thursday (January 30, 2025) warned off BRICS member countries from replacing the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency by repeating a 100%-tariffs threat he had made weeks after winning the November presidential elections.

“We are going to require a commitment from these seemingly hostile Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty U.S. Dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social in a statement nearly identical to one he posted on November 30.

At the time, Russia said that any U.S. attempt to compel countries to use the dollar would backfire.

The BRICS grouping includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa and a few other countries that joined in the past couple of year. The grouping does not have a common currency, but long-running discussions on the subject have gained some momentum after the West imposed sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine.

“There is no chance that BRICS will replace the U.S. Dollar in International Trade, or anywhere else, and any Country that tries should say hello to Tariffs, and goodbye to America!” he said.

Mr. Trump posted his warning to the BRICS as Canada and Mexico await his decision to follow through on a pledge to impose 25% tariffs on the United States’ North American trading partner from Feb. 1.

Mr. Trump wants to use tariffs as a tool to get Mexico and Canada to help stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States, particularly the deadly opioid fentanyl, and migrants crossing illegally into the U.S.

Dollar dominance – the outsized role of the U.S. dollar in the world economy – has strengthened of late, thanks to the robust U.S. economy, tighter monetary policy and heightened geopolitical risks, even as economic fragmentation has boosted a push by BRICS countries to shift away from the dollar into other currencies.

A study by the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center last year showed that the U.S. dollar remains the world’s primary reserve currency, and neither the euro nor the so-called BRICS countries have been able to reduce global reliance on the dollar.

The acronym BRIC, which did not initially include South Africa, was coined in 2001 by then Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jim O’Neill in a research paper that underlined the growth potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

The bloc was founded as an informal club in 2009 to provide a platform for its members to challenge a world order dominated by the United States and its Western allies. South Africa was the first beneficiary of an expansion of the bloc in 2010 when the grouping became known as BRICS.

The group added Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates in 2023, and Indonesia became member earlier this month.

Published – January 31, 2025 10:22 am IST

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Trump tariff threats – Artifex.News

European Union prepares to cut U.S. import duties to avoid Trump tariff hike

U.S. President Donald Trump set July 4 deadline

Trump repeats tariffs threat to dissuade BRICS nations from replacing U.S. dollar