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U.S. President Donald Trump backed away on Sunday from his threat to slap 50% tariffs on imports from the European Union next month, agreeing to extend the deadline until July 9 for talks between Washington and the 27-nation bloc to produce a deal, Reuters reports.
Trump on Friday said he was recommending a 50% tariff go into place on June 1 because of frustration that talks with the EU were not moving quickly enough, according to Reuters.
Trump, who has repeatedly expressed disdain for the EU and its treatment of the United States on trade, relented after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told him on Sunday that the EU needed more time to come to an agreement.
She asked him during a call to delay the tariffs until July, the deadline he had originally set when he announced new tariffs in April, according to Reuters.
Trump told reporters he had granted the request, according to Reuters.
"We had a very nice call, and I agreed to move it," Reuters quoted Trump as saying before returning to Washington after a weekend in New Jersey. "She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out."
Von der Leyen said in a post on X that she had a "good call" with Trump and that the EU was ready to move quickly.