President Donald Trump announced on Sunday a postponement of the 50% tariff on imports from the European Union, pushing the implementation date to July 9. This decision marks the latest instance where President Trump has declared an impending tariff, generating market uncertainty, only to subsequently retract the threatened levies.
President Trump stated that a “very nice call” with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen preceded the decision to delay the tariff. “[Von der Leyen] said she wants to get down to serious negotiation,” President Trump informed reporters at Morristown Municipal Airport in New Jersey. “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.”
“She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out,” he added.
Just two days prior, on Friday, President Trump had indicated that he was “not looking for a deal” with the EU and that the 50% tariff rate was scheduled to take effect on June 1. This proposed rate followed President Trump’s imposition of a 20% reciprocal tariff on the EU in April, which itself experienced a delay, as did other similar reciprocal tariffs. Shortly after speaking with reporters on Sunday, President Trump posted on Truth Social that “talks will begin rapidly.”
Earlier in the day, President von der Leyen had communicated via X (formerly Twitter) about a “good call” with President Trump. “The EU and US share the world’s most consequential and close trade relationship,” President von der Leyen posted. “Europe is ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively. To reach a good deal, we would need the time until July 9.”
Following the announcement of the tariff delay, stock markets in Asia exhibited modest gains on Monday. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Index rose by as much as 0.8% in early trading, while South Korea’s KOSPI index gained 0.9%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index saw a slight increase of 0.3%. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s TAIEX and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded with minimal change, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index experienced a slight dip of 0.3%.
President Trump has consistently voiced concerns regarding what he terms “non-monetary trade barriers” and has frequently criticized countries or trading blocs that maintain trade deficits with the United States. These deficits occur when the U.S. imports more goods from a trading partner than it exports to that same partner. According to data from the U.S. Commerce Department, the United States recorded a trade deficit of $236 billion with the EU in the previous year.
In other remarks made on Sunday, President Trump stated that he “tended to agree” with recent comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent regarding the lack of necessity to return textile manufacturing to the United States.
“We’re not looking to make sneakers and t-shirts … we want to make military equipment,” President Trump said. “We want to make big things. We want to do the ‘AI thing’ with the computers.”
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