President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States would delay the implementation of 50 percent tariffs on its goods from June 1 to July 9 in order to allow time for negotiations with the European Union (EU).
The agreement came after a phone conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday. According to the US President, Von der Leyen told Trump that he "wants to go into serious negotiations".
Speaking to reporters in Morristown, New Jersey on Sunday while preparing to return to Washington, Trump said, 'I told anyone who needs to listen, they should do it. Von der Leyen promised to meet immediately and see if we could work something out.'
In a social media post on Friday, Trump threatened to impose 50 percent tariffs on EU goods, complaining that the 27-member bloc was "very difficult to deal with" on trade and that negotiations were "getting nowhere." Those customs duties would be applicable from June 1.
But the phone conversation with von der Leyen seems to have eased the tension, at least for now.
'I agreed to extend until July 9, 2025, it was my privilege to do so,' Trump said on Truth Social after speaking to reporters on Sunday evening.
'The EU and the US share one of the world's most important and close trade relations', said von der Leyen, for his part, 'Europe is ready to move forward with negotiations quickly and decisively, to reach a good deal, we need until July 9.'
