Opening up of markets of other countries to US very important, US president says
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the US would allow the EU to pay lower tariffs if the bloc agrees to open its market to American companies.
Speaking at the AI Summit in Washington, DC, Trump said they opened the markets of countries that had always been closed, and that they had offered such an agreement to the EU, with which they were engaged in serious negotiations.
Recalling the completion of the trade agreement with Japan, Trump said: "And we've made numerous other deals like that but opening up of a country is very important to us."
Trump emphasized that many countries have opened their markets to the US, but that a "very simple tariff" would be applied to some countries, adding that these countries would face tariffs ranging from 15% to 50%.
He said a 50% tariff would be imposed on several countries. "Because, we haven't been getting along with those countries too well. So we just say 'let's pay 50%.'"
Trump also explained that they had reached agreements with the UK, the Philippines, and Indonesia, and were in the process of finalizing a trade agreement with China.
However, Trump added, they would mostly impose direct tariffs on countries in the rest of the world. "Because we have over 200 countries. People don't realize that's a lot of deals. Even if you're like me, a deal junkie, that's a lot of deals."
