United States President Donald Trump has agreed to postpone a proposed 50% tariff on imports from the European Union until 9 July, granting both parties additional time to engage in trade negotiations.
The extension, announced on Sunday, follows what Trump described as a “very nice” phone conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The initial deadline for the tariffs, set for 1 June, has now been delayed by over a month.
“It was my privilege to do so,” Trump stated, referring to the extension. He added that President von der Leyen had requested the delay to allow more time for dialogue.
The proposed tariffs are part of Trump’s “Liberation Day” economic strategy, announced in April, which targets what he claims are unfair EU trade practices, including value-added taxes, regulatory measures against American companies, and the bloc’s trade surplus with the US.
The White House had said the tariffs were intended to address “longstanding imbalances and discriminatory treatment” of US goods. Trump himself previously argued that the EU had “taken advantage of American workers and companies for far too long.”
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Following the announcement, financial markets reacted positively. US stock futures rallied, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 417 points (1%), while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures gained 1.1% and 1.2% respectively. European indices also advanced, with the Stoxx Europe 600 up 0.7%, Germany’s DAX climbing 1.6%, and France’s CAC 40 gaining 1.3%.
Analysts have welcomed the extension as a temporary reprieve but cautioned that fundamental disagreements between the two economies remain unresolved.
“This buys time, but the risk of a full-blown transatlantic trade dispute hasn’t gone away,” said a senior European trade official who asked not to be named. “There’s still a lot of work to do before the July deadline.”
The European Commission has not released an official statement following the call, but insiders say negotiations are expected to intensify over the coming weeks.
The extension to 9 July now offers a narrow window for Brussels and Washington to reach a compromise that could avert a potentially damaging tariff escalation.
