By reaching a trade agreement with the Trump administration, which imposed non-reciprocal 15% tariffs on European products, the European Commission believed it had avoided a trade escalation with the United States. The deal was "imperfect," certainly, but at least it was supposed to bring "stability" and "predictability" for businesses, officials in Brussels repeated. That was without counting on Donald Trump. On Monday, August 25, four days after the publication of the "joint statement" outlining the terms of the tariff agreement, the American president dashed European hopes in a single, scathing message on his Truth Social platform.

In this message, he once again threatened to impose "substantial additional tariffs" on countries that do not eliminate their "digital taxes, legislation, rules or regulations are all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American technology." The European Union was not mentioned by name, but it was clearly targeted. With this post, Trump vindicated European experts who had criticized the weakness of a trade agreement built on shaky ground, one that could be swept away in seconds.

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