President Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 50 per cent tax on all imports from the European Union as well a 25 per cent tariff on Apple products unless iPhones are made in America.
The threats, delivered over social media, reflect Trump’s ability to disrupt the global economy with a burst of typing as well as the reality that his tariffs are not producing the sufficient trade deals he is seeking or the return of domestic manufacturing he has promised voters.
The Republican president said he wants to charge higher import taxes on goods from the EU, a long-standing US ally, than from China, a geopolitical rival that had its tariffs cut to 30% this month so Washington and Beijing could hold negotiations. Trump was upset by the lack of progress in trade talks with the EU, which has insisted on cutting tariffs to zero even as the president has publicly insisted on preserving …