United States President Donald Trump has rescinded his threat of imposing 50% tariffs on goods coming in from the European Union after a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
This comes just days after Trump had said he would make the increase from June 1, claiming that trade talks between the two trading partners were “going nowhere”.
The news a few days ago sent European and U.S. markets tumbling from a week long bull run, with the NASDAQ closing down 1%, the S&P 500 losing 0.68% and the STOXX Europe 600 index falling by 1.7%.
Find out more: US benchmarks see red as Trump's tariff remarks weigh
However just minutes ago, posting again on Truth Social, Trump said that he'd agreed to an extension of the June 1 tariff deadline after receiving a request from von der Leyen in a phone call between the two.
“I received a call today from Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, requesting an extension on the June 1st deadline on the 50% tariff with respect to Trade and the European Union,” Trump wrote.
“I agreed to the extension — July 9, 2025 — It was my privilege to do so. The Commission President said that talks will begin rapidly. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
This was von der Leyen's response via X:
In 2024, the U.S. imported about $606 billion in goods from the EU and exported around $370 billion.
The U.S. has currently imposed a 20% “reciprocal” rate on most EU goods on 2 April, but halved that rate a week later until 8 July to allow time for talks. It has retained import taxes on steel, aluminium and automotive parts and is threatening similar action on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.
