US President Donald Trump has agreed to push back by a month a threatened 50 percent tariff on goods coming from the European Union after a call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said the bloc needed more time “to reach a good deal”.
Von der Leyen posted on X that she held a "good call" with Trump, but that "to reach a good deal, we would need the time until July 9".
The European Commission conducts trade policy for the 27-nation bloc and has been negotiating with the US in a bid to avert an all-out trade war.
Trump, who has repeatedly expressed disdain for the EU and how it trades with the US, told reporters Sunday that he agreed to delay the tariffs, following a “very nice call” with Von der Leyen.
On Friday, after complaining that talks with the EU were “going nowhere”, he threatened a 50 percent tariff on all EU imports to the US starting on 1 June, upending a 90-day window he set for negotiations in early April.
The EU is already facing a 25 percent tariff on steel, aluminium and cars imported to the US and a 20-percent “reciprocal” tariff on all imports, which has been suspended pending the negotiations, though a baseline 10 percent remains in force.
Brussels has said it would impose its own tariffs on US goods if negotiations fail to produce a deal.
Von der Leyen warned that a deal was crucial, as "the EU and US share the world's most consequential and close trade relationship".
(with newswires)
