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Trump labels the EU 'difficult to deal with'

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Dollar down, heads for first weekly loss

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Gold, yen and government bonds gain on haven demand

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Apple ( AAPL ) shares knocked by direct new tariff threat

(Updates to US morning)

By Caroline Valetkevitch and Naomi Rovnick

NEW YORK/LONDON May 23 (Reuters) - Major stock indexes

and the dollar fell on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump

unleashed his latest trade threats, recommending 50% tariffs on

European Union imports from June 1 and saying he may impose a

25% tariff on any Apple ( AAPL ) iPhones manufactured outside the U.S.

Shares of Apple ( AAPL ) were down 2.5% in early New York

trading, while the Nasdaq was down more than 1%. European shares

also fell sharply.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback

against a basket of currencies, fell 0.46% to 99.45, with the

euro up 0.35% and the dollar down 0.81% against the yen.

The dollar index was on track for a weekly loss.

Government bonds in the United States and Europe climbed,

however, as the assets suddenly found favor from haven buyers

after sustaining heavy pressure this week from rising concerns

about Trump's tax cuts and the White House's ballooning debt

pile.

Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network: "The

European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of

taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very

difficult to deal with."

This was the latest event in a jittery week for global

markets after Moody's late last Friday downgraded the U.S.

credit rating and the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday

narrowly approved Trump's sweeping tax cuts.

"Tariffs are back at the forefront," said Oliver Pursche,

senior vice president and advisor for Wealthspire Advisors in

Westport, Connecticut.

"I think the 25% tariffs on iPhones and Apple ( AAPL ) was a little

bit of a surprise. It seemed like there was going to be an

exemption there, and the market is reacting more to that than

the EU news, and is interpreting that as a hardening of the

stance by President Trump and the administration as opposed to

seeking a negotiating path."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 284.70 points,

or 0.68%, to 41,576.68, the S&P 500 fell 51.16 points, or

0.88%, to 5,790.85 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 221.02

points, or 1.17%, to 18,704.71.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell

4.88 points, or 0.56%, to 866.13. The pan-European STOXX 600

index fell 1.06%.

The new tax-cut bill is expected to add almost $4 trillion

to the U.S. federal government's $36 trillion debt pile.

Yields on 30-year Treasuries, which had hit

19-month highs early on Thursday, were down on Friday in

response to fresh tariff fears.

The 30-year bond yield was last down 1.7 basis

points at 5.0468%. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes

fell 3.4 basis points to 4.519%, from 4.553% late on

Thursday.

Gold, which has surged in recent months as economic anxiety

as risen, was higher. Spot gold rose 1.47% to $3,342.49

an ounce.

U.S. crude rose 0.33% to $61.40 a barrel and Brent

rose to $64.58 per barrel, up 0.22% on the day.