(Source: CCTV.com, 2025-05-26)

On May 23, Trump posted on social media that due to no progress in tariff negotiations with the EU, the United States would impose a 50% tariff on goods imported from the EU starting from June 1. If this plan is followed, the United States will not only advance the deadline for delaying reciprocal tariffs on the EU from July 9 to June 1, but the tariff rate imposed on the EU will also be much higher than the 20% previously announced. Although Trump retracted this decision after a phone call with European Commission President von der Leyen, in the eyes of the outside world, the United States and Europe still have considerable differences on the issue of tariffs. Why is Trump so back and forth? What happened in the middle? "CCTV Financial Review" invited two guests, one isTu Xinquan, Dean of the China WTO Research Institute at the w88 casino, the other is CCTV financial commentator Liu Ge. The following is an excerpt from an interview with Tu Xinquan, Dean of the China WTO Research Institute at the w88 casino.

 

CCTV Financial Commentary: Last Friday, Trump suddenly made a statement on social media, threatening to impose a 50% tariff on all EU products exported to the United States from June 1st, which was not until July 9th. His reason is that the EU's slow action has led to no progress in the US-EU negotiations. What is his real purpose in doing this?

Tu Xinquan:I think this is still an old trick of Trump, which is to exert extreme pressure and ask for exorbitant prices. My own opinion is that Trump actually has a delusion in his heart. He believes that the United States, as the world's largest importing country and the most powerful country in the world, will accept his demands very obediently when he makes demands on other countries. But in fact, after he announced reciprocal tariffs in April, China's strong countermeasures in particular disrupted his rhythm. Correspondingly, other countries have actually seen the effects of China's countermeasures, so they have actually adopted a delaying strategy during negotiations.

The EU is a very important w88 and investment partner of the United States. Counting w88 in goods, w88 in services and investment together, the EU is the United States' largest economic partner. Therefore, apart from China, Trump is most concerned about the EU. The EU has a w88 surplus of more than 200 billion in goods with the United States. Trump puts negotiations with the EU in a very important position. But in fact, the EU has not made the concessions that Trump hopes for during this period, so Trump is a little anxious now, because the three-month suspension mentioned on April 9 will soon pass, and Trump needs some visible results, especially for several major sources of w88 deficits in the United States. Some results need to be achieved. Therefore, it was supposed to be at least a three-month moratorium, but now it has started threatening again before it has arrived. In fact, it is hoped that through extreme pressure, the EU will make concessions to the United States as soon as possible and reach some compromises.

 

CCTV Financial Commentary: The United States and the European Union may have to engage in more in-depth negotiations next, but at the same time, we saw Trump saying on his social media when he was exerting extreme pressure that the EU's mechanism is actually to take advantage of the United States. What do you think of the connotation of his sentence? Is the EU really taking advantage of the United States through this mechanism? What is the final demand that the United States hopes to make to the EU in this round?

Tu Xinquan:As long as Trump feels that this country has a w88 surplus with the United States, he is taking advantage of the United States. This EU mechanism is to take advantage of the United States. This perception is completely wrong. Because the promotion of European integration mainly starts from within Europe, the promotion of European economic integration in the 1950s was mainly to eliminate wars, especially the perennial war between France and Germany. After the very painful lesson of World War II, European countries realized that they wanted to carry out this kind of economic integration. In fact, it was also encouraged and supported from the perspective of the United States at that time. The United States was behind European integration. Judging from the results of European integration, it is actually very good. It has played a very good supporting role in Europe's economic development. Later, the EU also gave the United States very important support during the Cold War. It is a very critical ally of the United States and has made many contributions to the U.S. strategy and economy. As a whole, the EU is the largest economic partner of the United States, especially investment. The stock of two-way investment exceeds 6 trillion. A large number of European companies invest in the United States. Of course, many American companies invest in Europe, so it should be said that the two sides have a very mutually beneficial and win-win relationship.

 

CCTV Financial Commentary: Now that the 90-day period is almost halfway over, except for the negotiations with the United Kingdom which are relatively smooth, it can be said that negotiations between the United States and other countries are progressing slowly. What do you think is the main reason for the difficulty in making progress?

Tu Xinquan:I think one of the main reasons for the slow progress of these negotiations is that the United States is unilaterally pursuing the maximization of its own interests. It is not an equal negotiation. It is completely unilateral pressure from the United States to require the other party to make many concessions to itself, which makes it difficult to achieve a mutually beneficial result. Judging from the current policy, the United States has unilaterally announced that it will impose at least a 10% baseline tariff on all countries, including the United Kingdom. The negotiations between the United States and the United Kingdom have achieved certain results. They want to retain the 10% tariff, but require other countries to reduce tariffs on the United States. The United States does not want to get along with other countries on an equal footing. Therefore, it is very difficult for these other sovereign countries to accept such negotiations, and there is also great resistance from domestic politics. Another reason is that the United States, especially the Trump administration, has very little respect for international agreements. Even if he signs an agreement, no one can guarantee when he will violate it. For example, in 2018, the United States signed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, but Trump completely ignored the agreement this time. He raised taxes on Mexico if he wanted to, and on Canada if he wanted to. He even wanted to make Canada the 51st state of the United States. So what is the value of negotiating and signing an agreement with the United States? This is a question that many countries are now questioning.

    

Attached is the original interview video link:https://tv.cctv.com/2025/05/26/VIDEzWrWeprIDAOZ08OrQxPL250526.shtml?spm=C22284.Pzpe9Ja39w40.EAt2dPzf1fSi.1&sessionid=343986728