Trump threatens the EU with new 17% tariffs on food

The United States has threatened the European Union with a 17% tariff on agricultural products in a last-minute trade escalation that comes ahead of Donald Trump's July 9 deadline for the trade levies suspended in April to take effect, the Financial Times reports.

President Trump's goal would be to wrest regulatory exemptions from Brussels for large American companies and close the trade deficit between the two powers.

What's not at all clear is whether the new tariffs represent a reduction from the 20% tariffs on all European products that will go into effect on July 9 if there is no trade agreement between the US and the EU.

US President Donald Trump has reiterated his commitment to sending letters to all countries with which he has not reached a trade agreement, as has happened in recent days with the United Kingdom and Vietnam. The US also maintains a truce with China.

According to The Wall Street Journal , the notices will be sent to countries by July 9 . That is the White House's self-imposed deadline for ending a 90-day pause on "reciprocal" tariffs first announced in April. Trump added that the tariffs would take effect early next month, telling reporters Thursday night, " You'll start paying on August 1st ." Trump said the U.S. is prepared to notify many trading partners of the unilateral imposition of tariffs as high as 70%.

"We're going to start sending letters to several countries starting tomorrow," Trump told reporters. "We'll probably send out 10 to 12 tomorrow, and in the next few days, I think by July 9th, they'll all be covered. And the tariffs will range from maybe 60 or 70% to as high as 10 or 20%."