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The EU is ready to advance trade talks with the US “swiftly and decisively” but needs Donald Trump to return to his original 90-day negotiation period, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday after a call with the US president.
The discussion, in the first publicly disclosed call between the two leaders since Trump’s inauguration, came two days after the US president said he would impose 50 per cent tariffs on EU imports from June 1 in response to what he said were unsatisfactory negotiations with Brussels.
That represented a big escalation in the simmering transatlantic trade war, and startled European negotiators. Trump had paused his initial imposition of 20 per cent tariffs against the EU in April to begin a 90-day negotiation that was set to end on July 9.
“Europe is ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively. To reach a good deal, we would need the time until July 9,” von der Leyen said in a post on social media, after what she described as a “good call” with Trump. Her office confirmed she had initiated the contact.
The statement suggested a possible shift in the commission’s stance towards finding a potential compromise. On Friday, von der Leyen’s chief trade negotiator Maroš Šefčovič called for “mutual respect, not threats” and said Brussels would “defend our interests” in response to Trump’s escalation.
After Trump had threatened to impose the 50 per cent tariffs, later on Friday Treasury secretary Scott Bessent had said on Fox News: “I would hope that this would light a fire under the EU.”
A White House official said they were frustrated the EU had not engaged like other countries. “We just haven’t seen anything material come out of the EU,” said a White House official.
The Treasury and commerce departments did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Stephen Moore, an outside economic adviser to Trump, said that von der Leyen’s statement is “a promising sign” that the EU is “ready to negotiate”.
“It may not be as rapidly as Trump would like to see, but I think this is a peace offering,” Moore told the FT.
Officials on both sides have acknowledged the lack of progress in the EU-US talks, as negotiators stick to long-held positions. Trump has attacked the EU for what he alleges are unfair trade practices, while EU officials say the US refuses to take into account its huge services surplus with the bloc.
“I’m not looking for a deal,” Trump told reporters in the White House on Friday. “We’ve set the deal — it’s at 50 per cent.”
If 50 per cent tariffs were to come into effect on June 1, Brussels would need to decide whether it would retaliate. The EU has prepared a €21bn package of tariffs on US items such as maize, wheat, motorcycles and clothing, and is also discussing an additional list worth €95bn of other targets including Boeing aircraft, cars and bourbon whiskey.
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