FRESNOFORECLOSURE

US 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 have yet to produce the 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 per cent this month so Washington and Beijing could hold negotiations.

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Trump was upset by the lack of progress in trade talks with the EU, which has proposed mutually cutting tariffs to zero even as the president has publicly insisted on preserving a baseline 10 per cent tax on most imports.

"Our discussions with them are going nowhere!" Trump posted on Truth Social.

"Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50 per cent Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. There is no Tariff if the product is built or manufactured in the United States."

That post had been preceded by a threat of import taxes against Apple for its plans to continue making its iPhone in Asia.

Apple now joins Amazon, Walmart and other major US companies in the White House's crosshairs as they try to respond to the uncertainty and inflationary pressures unleashed by his tariffs.

"I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone's that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else," Trump wrote.

"If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25 per cent must be paid by Apple to the US."

In response to Trump's tariffs on China, Apple CEO Tim Cook said earlier this month that most iPhones solid in the US during the current fiscal quarter would come from India, with iPads and other devices being imported from Vietnam.

After Trump rolled out tariffs in April, bank analysts estimated that a $US1200 ($1859) iPhone would, if made in America, jump in price anywhere from $US1500 to $US3500 ($2325 – $5425).

Stock futures sold off after Trump's postings, with the S&P 500 index futures down roughly 1.3 per cent. The markets have developed a hair trigger sensitivity to the US president's statements, often slumping when he announces high tariffs and rallying when he retreats from those threats.

The core of Trump's argument against the EU is that America runs a "totally unacceptable" trade deficit with the 27 member states. Countries run trade deficits when they import more goods than they export.

From the vantage point of the EU's executive commission, trade with the US is roughly in balance if both goods and services are included. As a global centre for finance and technology, the US runs a trade surplus in services with Europe. That offsets some of the trade gap in goods and puts the imbalance at €48 billion ($84.2 billion).

Trump aides have said the goal of his tariffs was to isolate China and strike new agreements with allies, but the president's tariff threats undermine the logic of those claims.

Not only could the EU face higher tariffs than China, but the bloc of member states might have been better off by establishing a broad front with China and other countries against Trump's trade policy, said German economist Marcel Fratscher.

"The strategy of the EU Commission and Germany in the trade conflict with Trump is a total failure," Fratscher, the head of the German Institute for Economic Research, said on X.

"This was a failure you could see coming — Trump sees Europe's wavering, hesitation and concessions as the weaknesses that they are."

Trump has run hot and cold on his relationship with Apple, a sign that carrying favour with him might not necessarily shield a company from his anger.

He has essentially told companies such as Walmart to "eat" the costs of his tariffs instead of raising prices, even though doing so could squeeze profits and cause layoffs.

He now appears to deploying a similar degree of pressure to force Apple to accept the higher costs of relocating its supply chains.

Trump had previously created an exemption on electronics imported from China to help companies such as Apple, something he could now remove. He also threatened separate 25 per cent import taxes on computer chips and could have the tariffs schedule rewritten in ways that could expose Apple products to the taxes.

Until recently, the US president repeatedly bragged about the $US500 billion ($775 billion) that Apple in February pledged to invest domestically. But he publicly turned against the company last week while speaking in Qatar.

"I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday," Trump told the audience.

"I said to him, 'My friend, I treated you very good. You're coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you're building all over India. I don't want you building in India.'"

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