EU to delay retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods in hopes of reaching deal

The European Union will suspend retaliatory tariffs on goods from the United States that were scheduled to take effect on Monday. The EU hopes it can reach a trade deal with the Trump administration by the end of the month.

"This is now the time for negotiations," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels on Sunday.

A day earlier, President Trump sent a letter to the EU announcing new 30% tariffs on goods starting Aug. 1. In the letter, Mr. Trump said the relationship between the bloc and the U.S. has been "far from Reciprocal," and that the U.S. trade deficit was a national security threat.

"We have had years to discuss our Trading Relationship with The European Union, and have concluded that we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent Trade Deficits, engendered by your Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers," he wrote.

Mr. Trump sent a similar letter to Mexico.

The EU – the United States' biggest trading partner and the world's largest trading bloc – had been scheduled to impose "countermeasures" starting Monday at midnight Brussels time (6 p.m. EST). The EU negotiates trade deals on behalf of its 27 member countries.

Von der Leyen said those countermeasures would be delayed until Aug. 1, and that Mr. Trump's letter shows ″that we have until the first of August″ to negotiate. European leaders have urged Mr. Trump and von der Leyen to give negotiations more time.

″We have always been clear that we prefer a negotiated solution,″ she said. If they can't reach a deal, she said that ″we will continue to prepare countermeasures so we are fully prepared.″

Mr. Trump has said his global tariffs would set the foundation for reviving a U.S. economy that he claims has been ripped off by other nations for decades. He was on an announcement blitz of new tariffs with allies and foes alike last week.

U.S. trade partners have faced months of uncertainty and on-and-off threats from the U.S. president to impose tariffs, with deadlines sometimes extended or changed. The tariffs could have ramifications for nearly every aspect of the global economy.

The value of EU-U.S. trade in goods and services amounted to 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion) in 2024, or an average of 4.6 billion euros a day, according to the EU statistics agency Eurostat. Europe's biggest exports to the U.S. were pharmaceuticals, cars, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments and wine and spirits.

Trade ministers from EU countries are scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss trade relations with the U.S., as well as with China.