US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday his decision to postpone a 50% tariff on goods from the European Union until July 9. This is the most recent example of Trump announcing an imminent tax and confusing markets before rescinding the levies.
The 78-year-old said that the postponement of the 50% tariffs resulted from a “very nice call” he had with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.
“(Von der Leyen) said she wants to get down to serious negotiation. July 9 would be the day, that was the date she requested. Could we move it from June 1 to July 9? I agreed to do that,” Trump was speaking to reporters at Morristown Municipal Airport in New Jersey.
“She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out,” he added.
Trump stated as recently as Friday that he was “not looking for a deal” with the European Union and that their tariff rate was fixed at 50%, with an effective date of June 1. His 20% retaliatory charge on the EU, which was also postponed, along with other so-called reciprocal duties, would have preceded that rate in April.
Trump later took to Truth Social and posted “talks will begin rapidly.”
Meanwhile, von der Leyen posted on X that she had a “good call” with Trump.
“The EU and US share the world’s most consequential and close trade relationship. Europe is ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively. To reach a good deal, we would need the time until July 9,” she wrote.
Asian stock markets saw slight increase on Monday after news of the delay. Early trading saw a 0.8% increase in South Korea’s KOSPI and a 0.9% increase in Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225. The Shanghai Composite Index of China increased by 0.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia and Taiwan’s TAIEX both saw comparatively flat trading, although Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.3%.
Trump has made a point of criticising nations or trading blocs that have trade deficits with the US as well as “non-monetary trade barriers,” as he has referred to them on numerous occasions. These happen when the US buys more goods from a trading partner than that nation buys from the former.
According to data from the US Commerce Department, the US trade deficit with the EU was $236 billion last year.
Trump also claimed on Sunday that he “tended to agree” with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s recent statements about not needing to reintroduce textile manufacture to the US.
“We’re not looking to make sneakers and t-shirts … we want to make military equipment. We want to make big things. We want to do the ‘AI thing’ with the computers,” he said.