Washington - Saba:
US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he had informed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of the suspension of tariffs on imports from the European Union until July 9.
In a statement on the Truth Social platform, Trump said: "Today (Sunday), I received a call from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen requesting an extension of the June 1 deadline for the implementation of the 50 percent tariff on trade with the European Union."
He added: "I agreed to the extension until July 9, 2025, and it was an honor to do so. The Commission President confirmed that talks would begin quickly."
Von der Leyen said in a post on the X platform on Sunday evening that "the European Union and the United States share the strongest and closest trading relationship in the world... Europe is ready to advance the talks quickly and decisively... and to reach a good agreement, we need until July 9th."
Trump had asserted a few days ago that dealing with the European Union was "difficult" and that trade talks were "leading nowhere," proposing to impose 50 percent tariffs on the European bloc, starting June 1st.
The European Union is negotiating with the Trump administration, hoping to obtain an exemption from the tariffs, which include taxes of up to 25 percent on European cars imported into the United States.
Von der Leyen announced on April 10th that "the European Union has decided to postpone its countermeasures, which were planned in response to US tariffs on EU exports to the United States, for 90 days, in response to Trump's announcement to suspend tariffs imposed on imports from some countries, including the European Union, for 90 days."
Last February, Trump decided to impose a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports to the United States. Von der Leyen confirmed at the time that "this step will not go unanswered."