U.S. President Donald Trump suddenly seems to be a big fan of dropping all “tariffs, barriers and subsidies” with at least one trading partner, mere hours after he tweeted “tariffs are the greatest.”
On Tuesday night, Trump issued a tweet proposing that both the U.S. and the European Union drop all three as European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker prepares to visit Washington for trade talks on Wednesday.
WATCH: Trump says U.S. and EU working towards zero tariffs
“That would finally be called free market and fair trade!” Trump tweeted.
“Hope they do it, we are ready — but they won’t!”
The tweet came on the same day that Trump issued this one, amid news that his administration was starting a $12 billion plan to help U.S. farmers amid trade disputes.
READ MORE: Trump tweets ‘Tariffs are the greatest!’ as $12B in emergency aid announced for U.S. farmers
Trump’s trade wars have seen the U.S. hit Canada, the European Union and Mexico with tariffs on aluminum and steel — a move that has seen the Great White North fire back with retaliatory tariffs on $16.6-billion of U.S. steel, aluminium and consumer products.
Coverage of trade on Globalnews.ca:
The U.S. has also imposed tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese products and threatened tariffs on $500 billion more in goods. China, meanwhile, retaliated with duties on pork and soybeans.
EU officials have managed expectations about the progress that Juncker is likely to make with Trump.
WATCH: What is a trade war? How do tariffs work? And how will it impact Canadian consumers?
— With files from The Associated Press