U.S. President Donald Trump revealed he isn’t taking the weekend off as he released two open letters to prominent American trading partners informing them of steep new duty rates.
On Saturday, the commander in chief took to Truth Social to post his missives to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, telling both that the countries they represent will face 30 percent duties on goods across the board beginning Aug. 1.
In his letter to Sheinbaum, Trump reinvigorated earlier claims that Mexico has aided in the “pouring” of drugs like fentanyl into the U.S. market and failed to control the activities of criminal cartels. “Mexico has been helping me secure the border, but, what Mexico has done, is not enough,” he wrote. The colloquial style of the communication underscored Trump’s familiar relationship with Sheinbaum, with whom he has been negotiating for months.
As in previous letters, Trump stated that the new duty rate excludes already established sectoral tariffs, and he wrote that transshipment or retaliatory duties will result in stacked taxes to Mexican imports. The letter did not mention whether U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement-covered products would be exempt from the new tariffs, though a White House spokesperson told Politico Friday that Canada’s USMCA-compliant products would remain duty-free under the trade agreement, which is due to be revisited in July 2026.
The tenor of Trump’s letter to von der Leyen was different, belying a frustration that the 27-member European trade bloc and the U.S. have not been able to reach a consensus about the future of their trade relationship.
“We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with the European Union, and have concluded that we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, trade deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-tariff, policies and trade barriers,” the president wrote.
He struck a more threatening tone as he addressed the European leader, declaring, “The European Union will allow complete, open market access to the United States, with no tariff being charged to us, in an attempt to reduce the large trade deficit.” As in previous communications with world leaders, Trump emphasized that if the trade bloc retaliates with its own duties, its tariff rate only stands to grow.
The 30 percent tariff comes as a surprise given that American officials, like U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer, have been negotiating ceaselessly in recent weeks with members of the European Commission. A principle agreement presented to Trump last week involved the levying of 10 percent duties, which the trade bloc said would cause major pain to exporters.
Reportedly, von der Leyen was informed of the contents of the president’s letter in advance of its social media debut.
“A 30 percent tariff on EU exports would hurt businesses, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic,” she wrote on Twitter shortly after the announcement. “We will continue working toward an agreement by Aug. 1. At the same time, we are ready to safeguard EU interests on the basis of proportionate countermeasures.”