Trump tweets for US, EU to end all tariffs, calls lawmakers who oppose his trade policy 'weak

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump tweeted that he thought that both the United States and the European Union should get rid of all tariffs, barriers and subsidies. The next day, Trump sent several tweets slamming his critics who opposed his tariff policies.

On Wednesday, Trump will meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström to discuss trade policy.

What did Trump say about the EU?

On Tuesday, Trump tweeted that he thought the US and EU should not only drop all tariffs, but all barriers and subsidies between them:

The European Union is coming to Washington tomorrow to negotiate a deal on Trade. I have an idea for them. Both the U.S. and the E.U. drop all Tariffs, Barriers and Subsidies! That would finally be called Free Market and Fair Trade! Hope they do it, we are ready - but they won’t!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2018

France has previously said that lowering EU farm subsidies would be “unthinkable.”

During their meeting, Juncker and Malmström plan to try to talk Trump out of imposing steep tariffs on imports of European cars to the United States.

“We are here to explain and find out how to prevent a trade war,” Juncker told German public broadcasting network ZDF.

What did Trump say about his critics?

On Tuesday, Trump continued to defend his trade policies:

Every time I see a weak politician asking to stop Trade talks or the use of Tariffs to counter unfair Tariffs, I wonder, what can they be thinking? Are we just going to continue and let our farmers and country get ripped off? Lost $817 Billion on Trade last year. No weakness!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2018

When you have people snipping at your heels during a negotiation, it will only take longer to make a deal, and the deal will never be as good as it could have been with unity. Negotiations are going really well, be cool. The end result will be worth it!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2018

China is targeting our farmers, who they know I love & respect, as a way of getting me to continue allowing them to take advantage of the U.S. They are being vicious in what will be their failed attempt. We were being nice - until now! China made $517 Billion on us last year.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2018

This echoes a tweet Trump sent on Tuesday morning declaring that tariffs "are the greatest" and the U.S. was being "robbed" by other nations before the tariffs were put in place.

A trade deficit occurs when a country imports more goods from another country than it exports to that country. This can be caused by a variety of factors, and economists are divided on whether or not this is actually a bad thing.

The U.S. Census Bureau listed the U.S. trade deficit with China for 2017 as $375 billion, so it's unclear where Trump is getting $517 billion from — a number greater than the total value of all products the U.S. imported from China, which was $505.5 billion in 2017. The total U.S. trade deficit with all nations around the globe last year was $566 billion.

When Trump mentions that the U.S. lost $817 billion on trade, he could possibly be referring to total amount of all goods the U.S. imported from other nations, which was $811 billion. However, this is a total for imports, and not a deficit.

What else?

After President Donald Trump revoked the EU's exemption from U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, the EU responded with tariffs on $3.2 billion worth of U.S. products including bourbon, blue jeans, cigarettes, and motorcycles. The EU has said that if this situation isn't resolved, it will slap tariffs on an additional 160 U.S. products worth roughly $4.3 billion.