Donald J.Trump blasts EU trade practices, demands tariff reciprocity for American farmers

The president's call for agricultural tariffs comes nearly 11 months after the United States and European Union struck a sweeping trade deal at Turnberry.

UNITED STATES — Donald J.Trump attacked the European Union’s trade practices and called for tariffs to protect American farmers in a Truth Social post on June 19, 2026.

Here is the full post (see truthsocial): “Big moment for our Great Farmers. Tariffs on foreign agricultural products will save American farms. The European Union treats America very unfairly on trade. They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our farm products, and yet they ship massive amounts to us. Not fair! We need reciprocity, and we need it NOW. Donald J.Trump”

The post marks a sharp rhetorical escalation against the European Union at a sensitive moment in transatlantic commerce. Donald J.Trump accused the bloc of refusing American cars and farm products while flooding the United States with European goods, and he demanded immediate reciprocity.

The remarks arrive as the European Parliament prepares to vote on legislation to implement the landmark trade deal Donald J.Trump himself struck with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland in July 2025 (see whitehouse.gov). That agreement called for the European Union to eliminate all tariffs on United States industrial goods, purchase $750 billion in American energy by 2028, and invest $600 billion in the United States. In return, the European Union would pay a broad 15 percent tariff on exports to the United States, including on autos, auto parts, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors.

The deal also addressed some of the agricultural grievances Donald J.Trump raised in his latest post. The two sides agreed to work on removing non-tariff barriers affecting food and farm products, including streamlining sanitary certificate requirements for American pork and dairy (see whitehouse.gov). The European Union committed to providing meaningful quotas and eliminating tariffs in various sectors to create commercially significant market access for United States goods.

Despite the scope of the Turnberry accord, its implementation has been uneven. The European Parliament vote, expected on June 17, 2026, was widely seen as necessary to avert another eruption of tariff conflict between the world’s two largest trading partners (see yahoo.com). Donald J.Trump had threatened “much higher” tariffs unless the European Union acted soon, and 15 business associations representing European carmakers, textiles, cosmetics, and food producers urged lawmakers to back the deal to ensure stability for businesses that rely on roughly $2 trillion in annual transatlantic trade.

Key friction points remain. Washington has pressed the European Union to address non-tariff barriers and regulatory concerns, including the bloc’s carbon border tax and deforestation-linked import requirements (see yahoo.com). The European Union, for its part, has objected to United States tariffs above 15 percent on metal-containing products such as washing machines, wind turbines, and motorcycles. Steel and aluminum tariffs remain at 50 percent under the Turnberry terms, and European cutlery and catering equipment makers have warned that the higher levies risk pricing them out of the American market.

The post also raises questions about the durability of the Turnberry framework. Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s trade committee, said the final decision rests with the White House. “The decision is in the White House by the president and therefore nobody knows what will really happen,” Lange said (see yahoo.com). Donald J.Trump’s recent threat of 100 percent tariffs on French wine could further complicate the accord.

In the last 30 days, 16 of 634 Donald J.Trump posts on Truth Social addressed the topic of economy and tariffs, including 3 on the sub-topic of tariffs and customs duties involving China, the European Union, and other countries.