The EU Alerts Willingness to Quick-Observe Commerce Talks With the US

The European Union mentioned Monday that it’s accelerating commerce negotiations with the US in a bid to avert a pricey transatlantic commerce warfare.

“They agreed each to fast-track the commerce negotiations and to remain in shut contact,” Paula Pinho, a spokeswoman for the European Fee, mentioned throughout a press convention a day after EU Fee President Ursula von der Leyen spoke with President Donald Trump over the telephone.

“We’re speaking about, in fact, the world’s single largest and closest buying and selling relations, so these negotiations are advanced,” Pinho added. “With this name, there’s now a brand new impetus for the negotiations.”

The feedback from the EU got here days after Trump criticized the bloc for dragging its ft and making the most of the US.

Earlier final week, the US rejected a commerce proposal despatched by the EU Fee.

In a Friday social media put up, Trump warned he would slap a 50% tariff on EU items. He mentioned the 27-nation bloc has been “very tough to take care of” and that commerce negotiations have been “going nowhere.” The tariffs have been initially set to take impact on June 1.

In response, the EU has additionally permitted tariffs on $23.9 billion of US items, together with soybeans, poultry, bikes, and different farm merchandise.

After Sunday’s name, Trump mentioned he would delay the deliberate tariff hike on European items by over a month, with July 9 as the brand new deadline.

“It was my privilege to take action,” Trump mentioned of the tariff delay on Fact Social on Sunday night.

Extra conversations appear to be going down on the sidelines to de-escalate commerce tensions.

On Monday, Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s chief commerce negotiator, mentioned on X that he had “good calls” with the secretary of commerce, Howard Lutnick, and ambassador Jamieson Greer. Sefcovic added that the EU was “absolutely dedicated” to reaching a commerce deal by the July 9 deadline.

The White Home didn’t instantly reply to a request for feedback.