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Donald Trump has consented to postpone the imposition of 50 percent tariffs on the European Union, giving room to continue trade discussions until July 9. This decision followed a conversation on Sunday with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

“She said she wants to get down to serious negotiation,” Trump told reporters. “We had a very nice call.”

“She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out.”

In a statement, von der Leyen expressed that the EU is prepared to progress trade discussions with the US “quickly and decisively,” but emphasized the need for Trump to revert to his initial 90-day negotiation period.

This exchange marked the first publicly disclosed conversation between the two leaders since Trump’s presidency began. It occurred two days after the US president announced his intention to impose 50 percent tariffs on EU imports starting June 1, citing unsatisfactory negotiations with Brussels as the reason.

That represented a big escalation in the simmering transatlantic trade war, and startled European negotiators. Trump had paused his initial imposition of 20 per cent tariffs against the EU in April to begin a 90-day negotiation that was set to end on July 9.

“Europe is ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively. To reach a good deal, we would need the time until July 9,” von der Leyen said in a post on social media, after what she described as a “good call” with Trump. Her office confirmed she had initiated the contact.

The statement suggested a possible shift in the commission’s stance towards finding a compromise. On Friday, von der Leyen’s chief trade negotiator Maroš Šefčovič called for “mutual respect, not threats” and said Brussels would “defend our interests” in response to Trump’s escalation.

After Trump had threatened to impose the 50 per cent tariffs, later on Friday Treasury secretary Scott Bessent had said on Fox News: “I would hope that this would light a fire under the EU.”

A White House official said they were frustrated the EU had not engaged like other countries. “We just haven’t seen anything material come out of the EU,” said a White House official.

Stephen Moore, an outside economic adviser to Trump, said that von der Leyen’s statement is “a promising sign” that the EU is “ready to negotiate”.

“It may not be as rapidly as Trump would like to see, but I think this is a peace offering,” Moore told the FT.

Officials on both sides have acknowledged the lack of progress in the EU-US talks, as negotiators stick to long-held positions. Trump has attacked the EU for what he alleges are unfair trade practices, while EU officials say the US refuses to take into account its huge services surplus with the bloc.

“I’m not looking for a deal,” Trump told reporters in the White House on Friday. “We’ve set the deal — it’s at 50 per cent.”

In case Trump follows through on his threat, the EU has prepared a €21bn package of tariffs on US items such as maize, wheat, motorcycles and clothing, and is also discussing an additional list worth €95bn of other targets including Boeing aircraft, cars and bourbon whiskey.