The European Union is racing to clinch an agreement with the Americans before tariffs kick in on Aug. 1, even as President Trump has signaled he is in no rush.

"Other trading partners observing these threats will have the same mistrust of the negotiation process," experts argue.

President Donald Trump in recent days slapped tariffs as high as 50% on dozens of countries, restoring the type of aggressive trade policy that sent stocks plummeting a few months ago. The new round of levies prompted little more than a shrug on Wall Street.

While Mexico was spared from Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" tariff rollout on April 2, the 30% rate for the E.U. is 10 percentage points higher than what the president said he would apply to America's largest trading partner in April but lower than his mid-May threat of 50%.

President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened duties of 30% on products from Mexico and the European Union, two of America’s biggest trading partners, in an ongoing tariff campaign that’s upended global trade since he retook office in January.

President Donald Trump has posted two new letters on his social media platform announcing tariffs on the European Union and Mexico.

S&P 500 futures lost 0.5%, while Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 0.6%. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 204 points, or 0.5%.

The EU – the United States' biggest trading partner – had been scheduled to impose "countermeasures" starting Monday at midnight in Brussels