In open letters to EU and Mexico, Trump announces 30% tariffs from August 1

President Donald Trump on Saturday announced he was levying tariffs of 30 per cent against the European Union and Mexico. He announced the tariffs on two of the United States' biggest trade partners in letters posted on his social media account.

In his letter to Mexico's leader, Trump acknowledged that the country had been helpful in stemming the flow of undocumented migrants and fentanyl into the United States.

But he said the country had not done enough to stop North America from turning into a “Narco-Trafficking Playground".

Trump in his letter to the European Union said that the US trade deficit was a national security threat.

“We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with the European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large and persistent trade deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-tariff, policies, and trade barriers,” Trump wrote in the letter to the EU. “Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal.”