President Donald Trump announced a delay in implementing proposed 50% tariffs on EU imports, pushing the effective date to July 9. The U.S. leader shared this update through his Truth Social platform.
Trump attributed the postponement to what he described as a "productive" phone discussion with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. "She expressed interest in meaningful discussions," the president noted regarding von der Leyen's stance.
The European Commission chief separately stated that additional time was necessary for the EU to "negotiate a favorable agreement" with the United States. This development follows Trump's previous criticism of EU trade practices, where he alleged the bloc maintained "excessive trade barriers, unfair VAT policies, unreasonable corporate penalties, currency manipulation, and baseless legal actions targeting American firms."
The announcement comes weeks after the U.S. and China reached a temporary 90-day agreement to scale back reciprocal tariffs following multiple negotiation sessions. Earlier in March, Trump had threatened sweeping tariff increases against most trading partners before granting last-minute exemptions to numerous nations. The EU had similarly paused its planned 10-25% counter-tariffs against U.S. goods for a 90-day period.