Trump holds up EU Tariffs through July 9

President Trump said on Sunday that he would delay imposing 50 percent tariffs on all imports from the European Union until July 9 to allow more time for trade negotiations.

In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump claimed that he discussed his recent threat to impose tariffs on June 1 with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen regarding the failure to reach a trade agreement within the following week. Mr. Trump has voiced his dissatisfaction with negotiations with the European Union, claiming that the union has been reticent to offer trade concessions during a 90-day window to reach a deal that the administration is happy with. But his threat to hit the union with a steep tariff raised the chances of an economically destabilizing trade war with one of the world’s largest economies.

On Sunday, Mr. At least for the time being, Trump appeared to relent. Mr. stated, "The Commission President stated that talks will begin quickly." In his writing, Trump referred to Ms. von der Leyen. The European Commission is the executive arm of the European Union.

Ms. von der Leyen, in a separate social media post on Sunday, said that she had a “good call” with Mr. Trump and had conveyed to him that the E.U. needed extra time to reach a trade deal. She stated that negotiations would progress "quickly and decisively." Sign up for Your Places: Global Update. All the latest news for any part of the world you select. Get it sent to your inbox.

She wrote, "The European Union and the United States share the world's most consequential and close trade relationship." The extension is the latest turnabout by Mr. Trump, whose trade policies have injected substantial uncertainty into the global economy. While announcing his recommendation for 50 percent E.U. tariffs on Friday, the president had assailed Europe’s negotiating tactics and expressed no interest in reaching a deal.

When asked if there was anything Europe could do to avoid tariffs, he had responded, “I don’t know, we’re going to see what happens,” adding, “they’ve treated us very badly over the years.”

After Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with European counterparts as part of the Group of Seven meetings in Canada, the threat of 50 percent tariffs was made on Friday. Mr. Bessent had given no indication to his counterparts that new tariffs were coming, but he defended them on Friday. He stated on Fox News, "I would hope that this would light a fire under the E.U.." Picks of the Editors ‘Baby Bear’ Learns How to Be Wild From Humans in Fur

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The Treasury Secretary stated that individual EU nations were unaware of how Brussels was negotiating and that Europe has a problem with "collective action." headshot

Ana Swanson

Reporter for the Times who covered Trump's tariffs “I have been reporting on economics, trade and international relations for over a decade, from both China and the U.S. I aim to underpin my work with data and numbers, as well as give voice to the personal stories of people I encounter in my reporting.”

Our most recent coverage of tariffs and economic policy can be found here. Mr. Trump’s tariff threat against the E.U. came weeks after he agreed to partially pause the 145 percent tariffs he had imposed on Chinese imports.

Economists have warned that the tariffs and related uncertainty were slowing business investment around the world and disrupting supply chains. Many analysts have raised their forecasts for the likelihood of a global recession.

European officials held a call with their American counterparts for trade talks on Friday, and had earlier submitted a term sheet detailing their offers to secure a deal.

Among other commitments, European leaders have offered to increase energy purchases from the United States and reduce tariffs on industrial goods to zero if the United States follows suit. They hope to reduce tariffs in return, Mr. Trump has applied to all European products, as well as specific tariffs on goods like cars and pharmaceuticals.

But Mr. Trump and his advisers have said they were unimpressed by Europe’s offers. They continue to criticize a European value-added tax and other policies they say discriminate against American businesses.

In a post on Truth Social Friday morning, Mr. Trump wrote that discussions with the European Union were “going nowhere” and that he was recommending a 50 percent tariff on European imports as of June 1.

Mr. Trump also threatened a 25 percent tariff on imports of smartphones made by Apple and other companies on Friday, saying they should be made in the United States.

Economists at Oxford Economics said that if implemented, the E.U. tariffs and the phone tariffs, combined, would reduce economic growth by 0.2 percentage points, raise inflation by 0.2 percentage points, and increase the unemployment rate by a tenth of a percentage point.

The economists Ryan Sweet and Bernard Yaros wrote, "The proposed tariffs on the E.U. highlight a key forecast risk, whereby tariffs remain an ongoing tool to be used by the Trump administration whenever negotiations hit a snag."