The European Union said Monday that it is accelerating trade negotiations with the US in a bid to avert a costly transatlantic trade war.
“They agreed both to fast-track the trade negotiations and to stay in close contact,” Paula Pinho, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, said during a press conference a day after EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke with President Donald Trump over the phone.
“We are talking about, of course, the world’s single largest and closest trading relations, so these negotiations are complex,” Pinho added. “With this call, there’s now a new impetus for the negotiations.”
The comments from the EU came days after Trump criticized the bloc for dragging its feet and taking advantage of the US.
Earlier last week, the US rejected a trade proposal sent by the EU Commission.
In a Friday social media post, Trump warned he would slap a 50% tariff on EU goods. He said the 27-nation bloc has been “very difficult to deal with” and that trade negotiations were “going nowhere.” The tariffs were originally set to take effect on June 1.
In response, the EU has also approved tariffs on $23.9 billion of US goods, including soybeans, poultry, motorcycles, and other farm products.
After Sunday’s call, Trump said he would delay the planned tariff hike on European goods by over a month, with July 9 as the new deadline.
“It was my privilege to do so,” Trump said of the tariff delay on Truth Social on Sunday evening.
More conversations seem to be taking place on the sidelines to de-escalate trade tensions.
On Monday, Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s chief trade negotiator, said on X that he had “good calls” with the secretary of commerce, Howard Lutnick, and ambassador Jamieson Greer. Sefcovic added that the EU was “fully committed” to reaching a trade deal by the July 9 deadline.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
