Lutnick: EU Trade Representatives Wouldn't Talk Until Trump Threatened 50% Tariff

 Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick spoke about how President Trump's tariff threats brought EU negotiators to the table during an interview with Charlie Kirk on Tuesday.

CHARLIE KIRK: Even the mainstream media, who hates us, is bragging on this trade deal.

CNN: The early reviews are in on the new trade deal announced with the European Union... The Financial Times says the deal marks a victory for Trump... Is this a fantastic deal then, struck by Donald Trump? Absolutely a victory on behalf of the Trump administration... The bottom line is, this is the biggest trade deal in President Trump's effort to effectively reshape the global trading order... On this deal with the European Union, this is a big win for the US... The bigger picture is that Trump is still very much pursuing his longer-term goal of achieving what he perceives to be fairness for America... It's a triumph of a lot of things... Certainly, the president ought to take a victory lap, BUT I think it ends up being good for the European Union.

KIRK: I mean, Secretary Lutnick, they’re doing my job for me. Your reaction?

SECRETARY LUTNICK: I mean, that's why I have the most fun job in the cabinet. You know, I get to set the table.

I mean, I met with European Union representatives 40 times, and in the beginning, they were basically giving me the middle finger. We were nowhere. They wouldn't even respond to us.

And they didn’t respond until Donald Trump sent them a letter saying, you know, if you're not going to respond—pay 50%. And then all of a sudden, that changed, right? They started responding.

And then he sent them another letter saying, "Look, you guys are doing a little bit—so 30%." And then, boom, off we went until they offered to open their markets completely, pay us 15%.

But the key to why they did that is the sectoral tariffs—the tariffs on autos, the tariffs that are coming on pharmaceuticals, the tariffs that are coming on semiconductors—because Donald Trump is the biggest, the US is the biggest customer in the world.

We were going to take all those industries back to America. And basically, what he told Europe was, "If you want to keep half, you better do a deal with me."

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/07/30/lutnick_eu_trade_representatives_wouldnt_talk_until_trump_threatened_50_tariff.html