Trump: US will 'absolutely' impose tariffs on EU

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump said Friday that the US will "absolutely" impose tariffs on the European Union.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said the bloc "has treated us so terribly."

"Am I going to impose tariffs on the European Union? Do you want the truthful answer, or should I give you a political answer? Absolutely, absolutely," Trump said in response to a question about whether he would impose the tariffs.

Asked if he is concerned about the market reaction to the tariffs, Trump said: "No, no. The word tariff is a very misunderstood word. I've you've heard me say, I say it kiddingly, but it's one of the most beautiful words in the dictionary, really is.

"And we've been taken advantage of because others have charged us VATs. As an example, the European Union charges us 20% plus, plus, plus a VAT tax, called a VAT tax, very similar, and it costs us an absolute fortune. We are treated so badly," he said.

"They don't take our cars, they don't take our farm products, essentially, they don't take almost anything. And we have a tremendous deficit with the European Union. So, we'll be doing something very substantial with the European Union. We're going to bring the level up to where it should be," he added.

The tariff threat against the EU comes one day before he is set to place tariffs on Canada and Mexico, the top two US trading partners, and China.

The tariffs will take effect Saturday, including a 25% import duty on all goods from Canada and Mexico, as well as a 10% penalty on imports from China, which the White House said is being imposed "for the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country."

For Canadian oil, however, Trump said he is "probably going to reduce the tariff a little bit on that. We think we're going to bring it down to 10% on the oil.”