US President Donald Trump has said that he will delay a 50 percent tariff on European goods until July 9, following a phone call with European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen.
Writing on his social media platform, Truth Social, Mr Trump said that he’d received a call from Ms von der Leyen requesting an extension of the original June 1 deadline, which he says he agreed to.
“I agreed to the extension — July 9, 2025 — It was my privilege to do so. The Commission President said that talks will begin rapidly,” Mr Trump wrote.
This comes after the US president on Friday announced a 50 percent tariff on all EU goods from June 1 in response to stalled trade negotiations between the US and the EU.
President Trump said on that occasion that the European Union was formed for the “primary purpose” of taking advantage of the United States on trade, adding that their discussions are “going nowhere”.
However, following the call with Ms von der Leyen, the negotiations appear to have resumed.
The European Commission president said on X that she’d had a “good call with @POTUS”.
“The EU and US share the world’s most consequential and close trade relationship. Europe is ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively,” Ms von der Leyen said, adding, “to reach a good deal, we would need the time until July 9.”
Negotiations have been taking place between the United States and Europe since Mr Trump’s tariff announcements on ‘Liberation Day’ (April 2), which would have seen a 20 percent tariff placed on the EU.
This was later paused for 90 days.
Responding to the extension, Tánaiste and Minister for Trade, Simon Harris said that “we need to use every day now for substantive & intense negotiation to arrive at a deal that is good for both economies, protects jobs & investment”.
“Much work to do and no time to waste,” Mr Harris said.