Do you ever look at political headlines and go, huh?

Well, that's exactly why the NPR Politics Podcast exists.

We're experts, not just on politics, but in making politics make sense.

Every episode, we decode everything that happened in Washington

and help you figure out what it all means.

Give politics a chance with the NPR Politics Podcast, available wherever you

get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. The European Union is

warning President Trump that the bloc is ready to hit back against his plan to impose 30%

tariffs on EU imports. From Brussels, Terry Schultz reports

EU officials still hope to make a deal with the White House before the new taxes are due

to take effect on August 1st. EU and U.S. officials have been negotiating for months, but have not come up

with a solution to Trump's deep dissatisfaction with the trade imbalance in Europe's favor.

EU Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen says she's still ready to continue working toward an agreement by August 1st.

Because, she says in a statement, the threatened measures would disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains

to the detriment of businesses, consumers, and patients on both sides of the Atlantic.

But she emphasizes that Brussels will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests,

including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.

The EU has drawn up lists of U.S. goods that will be hit with tariffs once the U.S. imposes

them on Europe.

For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels.

Meanwhile, Trump is also threatening a 30% tariff on goods imported from Mexico starting August 1st,

saying that country hasn't done enough to stop fentanyl at the border.

...