Ursula von der Leyen

Global tensions are escalating over rare earth minerals after China applied severe export controls on critical minerals required to manufacture almost everything – from cars to weapons. The move has also sparked concerns about the global supply chain.

Strategic meetings will be held between European Union officials and Chinese representatives, starting with a videoconference Monday, to be followed by a meeting in Brussels the following day.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday in South Korea, with financial markets attentive to whether the world’s two largest economic powers can bury the hatchet in their trade war.

At the heart of the dispute is China’s 9 October decision to restrict exports of rare earth elements. While these controls were initially a response to US tariffs, the EU has become collateral damage in the dispute and is considering ways to respond.

Why is China restricting rare earth exports?

Tensions first emerged between the US and China after Donald Trump returned to the White House and carried through an aggressive tariff policy – which the administration argues is needed to narrow a growing trade deficit – on allies and rivals alike.

On 2 April 2025 — coinciding with what Trump defined as US’ “Liberation Day” — Washington announced a 34% tariff on Chinese goods imported into the country, which, added to the existing 20%, brought total duties to 54%.

The trade war escalated after China responded with counter-tariffs, which surpassed the 100% threshold, making trade between the two practically impossible. Beyond the tariffs, to hit back, China looked to weaponise its monopoly over rare earth elements, imposing additional export restrictions on 4 April that have since remained in place.

Rare earths are a group of 17 elements used across the defence, electric vehicle, energy and electronics industries.

The world, including the EU, is heavily dependent on China, as the country controls 60% of global production and 90% of their refining, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

After a short truce, the dispute flared up again in September, and on 9 October 2025, China decided to extend its control over rare earth elements from seven to 12. The announcement was seen as China building leverage over the United States. The meeting between the two sides this week is crucial in dictating the path forward.

Meanwhile, the EU is caught between the two. While these restrictions aimed mostly at the US, it has also impacted the European industry. The controls take the form of licenses that are difficult to obtain, with European companies bearing the brunt, as European Commisisioner for Trade Maroš Šefčovič has repeatedly pointed out.

How is the EU responding?

In a speech over the weekend, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said the Union is prepared to use all the tools at its disposal to combat what some European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have described as economic coercion from China.

The remarks from the Commission president alluded to what is known as the anti-coercion instrument – designed with China in mind but never used.

The ACI, adopted in 2023, would allow the EU hit back at a third country by imposing tariffs or even restricting access to public procurement, licenses, or intellectual property rights.

“In the short term, we are focusing on finding solutions with our Chinese counterparts,” Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday, warning, however, “But we are ready to use all of the instruments in our toolbox to respond if needed.”

European Council President António Costa met on Monday with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur.

“I shared my strong concern about China’s expanding export controls on critical raw materials and related goods and technologies,” Costa said after the meeting, adding: “I urged him to restore as soon as possible fluid, reliable and predictable supply chains.”

Yet, tensions persist.

A planned meeting between Šefčovič and his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao was cancelled and replaced by high-level talks between Chinese and European experts, a Commission spokesperson has confirmed. A video conference took place on Monday, and Chinese officials are set to arrive in Brussels for a meeting on Thursday.

While Brussels insists it wants to achieve a constructive solution without escalating, the Commission is pursuing a “de-risking” strategy to reduce its dependence on Chinese minerals. In addition, Germany and France have also suggested they would support stronger trade measures if a comprehensive solution cannot be found.

On Saturday, Von der Leyen announced a new plan – RESourceEU – exploring joint purchasing and stockpiling of rare earth, as well as “strategic” projects for the production and processing of critical raw materials here in Europe.

The EU also hopes to diversify its suppliers worldwide.

“We will speed up work on critical raw materials partnerships with countries like Ukraine and Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Chile or Greenland,” von der Leyen said.

The budget airline has warned passengers of impending strikes in France that could disrupt the plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers heading to destinations including Greece, Italy and Spain

Ryanair has delivered a stark warning to passengers planning to travel in October that hundreds of flights could be cancelled.

The budget carrier is alerting customers about looming strikes in France that threaten to wreck the holiday plans of tens of thousands of travellers. France’s biggest air traffic controllers’ union, Syndicat Majoritaire des Contrôleurs Aériens, is preparing to down tools from October 7 to 10. The union members are taking action over their current working conditions.

Initially planned for September 17-18, the industrial action was delayed due to political turmoil across the country. Now rearranged for October 7 to 10, one travel company is forecasting ‘chaos’. The walkout won’t just hit flights bound for France but also those travelling through French airspace.

Now Ryanair’s chief executive has warned that 100,000 passengers could see their flights disrupted next week as a consequence of the strike. Michael O’Leary estimated that the industrial action would cost Ryanair around £20m.

READ MORE: UK’s ‘best’ Christmas market in beautiful city confirms dates and brand new attraction for 2026READ MORE: New £185 travel fee starts today for people heading to US – but most Brits won’t pay

The budget airline CEO called for overflights to be protected from strike action, saying disrupting them is an abuse of the free single market. Countries including Spain and Greece already do that, but France doesn’t offer such protections.

Mr O’Leary said that Ryanair was expecting to be asked to cancel about 600 flights, with almost all of them overflights. “That’s about 100,000 passengers who will have their flights cancelled needlessly next Wednesday and Thursday,” he told Sky News.

“On any given day at the moment, we operate about 3,500 flights and about 900 of those flights cross over French airspace and about two-thirds of those, around 600 flights, are cancelled every day there’s an air traffic control strike. The UK is the country whose flights get cancelled most because of the geographic proximity to France.”

The airline voiced its exasperation earlier this summer when a Belgrade ATC strike held up 99 flights and affected more than 17,800 passengers in merely two days. The French strikes could cause significant disruption.

During the peak travel season in October, Charles de Gaulle Airport alone typically sees over 200,000 passengers daily, and France recorded roughly 1m overnight stays by international tourists between October 9-11 in 2024.

Holidaymakers are being urged to check with their airlines 48 hours before departure to learn of any disruption. They are also advised to brace themselves for a longer-than-expected wait at the airport and arrive well ahead of their flight.

Downloading airline apps can also help you stay updated, and be prepared for delays on things like trains and coaches as affected passengers seek alternative means of transport.

If your flight has been delayed or cancelled as a result of strike action by cabin crew or pilots, then you are entitled to compensation by law. That’s because the airline could have foreseen and preempted this problem.

However, strikes by airport staff and air traffic controllers are not considered to be within the control of the airline, so no compensation would apply. If strikes have an impact on your airport then get their early or follow the advice from your airline. Problems with airport staff strikes can result in major queues to check in bags, so if this kind of industrial action is announced, you might want to think about reducing your baggage to just carry-on cabin bags in order to cut out one queue.

Published on
05/08/2025 – 17:10 GMT+2

ADVERTISEMENT

The European Commission said on Tuesday it was surprised by comments German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil in which he highlighted the EU’s weakness in the ongoing tariff talks, despite Germany having been fully briefed ahead of the agreement reached on July 27 by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump.

“It is most surprising to us,” Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said, adding: “Nothing has happened here in terms of the Commission’s approach, negotiation or outcome achieved without the clear signal received from our member states.”

Klingbeil said on Monday, ahead of his meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant in Washington DC, that EU representatives “have shown weakness” during trade negotiations with the US.

“Overall, as Europeans, we must become stronger,” Klingbeil insisted, “then we can also stand up to the US with more self-confidence. Not against the US, but in dialogue with the US.”

Germany “had been fully briefed on the details of the agreement at a political level”, Commission Deputy Spokesperson Arianna Podestà added on Tuesday.

Since the announcement of the EU-US tariff agreement on July 27, the Commission has maintained that the deal represents the least bad option, allowing the EU to avoid a further escalation in the transatlantic trade dispute.

However, the details of the agreement are still under negotiation, just days after a US Executive Order set tariffs at 15%. Germany, in particular, continues to see its automotive industry heavily impacted by 25% US tariffs — contrary to the political deal, which aimed to reduce them to 15%.

Negotiations also continue on which products may be eligible for exemptions.

“We fight for every product and every industry,” a senior EU official said, adding: “We’re really trying to get as many products into the list of exemptions.”

A joint EU-US statement is expected to be released soon, aiming to reinforce the political commitments made on both sides of the Atlantic.

Under the current framework, the US has agreed to apply a 15% tariff on EU goods, while the EU has committed to purchasing US energy and investing in the United States.

Published on
04/08/2025 – 18:23 GMT+2

ADVERTISEMENT

The European Commission will suspend on Tuesday a package of trade countermeasures targeting €93 billions’ worth of American goods which was scheduled to take effect on 7 August, as it continues to negotiate a joint statement formalising the agreement struck by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump on 27 July.

“The EU continues to work with the US to finalise a joint statement, as agreed on 27 July,” EU spokesperson Olof Gill said, adding: “With these objectives in mind, the Commission will take the necessary steps to suspend by six months the EU’s countermeasures against the US, which were due to enter into force on 7 August.”

In line with the agreement reached, the US reduced its tariff rate to 15% last Thursday.

Gill said the step gained the EU immediate tariff relief, “a first important foundation is laid for restoring clarity to EU companies exporting to the US”.

The trade dispute is not over

However the trade dispute between the EU and the US is not over, as both sides still need to negotiate certain points of the agreement that have led to differing interpretations.

 Furthermore, the US Executive Order of July 31 does not provide relief to the EU automotive industry as expected (it remains subject to 25% tariffs), nor does it exempt strategic sectors such as aircraft.

As negotiations continue, the Commission should postpone through urgency procedure the retaliation package it adopted against the US tariffs.

It consists in two lists of products that were worth respectively €21 billion and €72 billion and were merged on 24 July after EU member states adopted them, targeting US products such as soyabean, cars, aircraft and Bourbon Whiskey.

Published on
01/08/2025 – 15:53 GMT+2

ADVERTISEMENT

US President Donald Trump doesn’t appear willing to ease the pressure on German carmakers. The US executive order on reciprocal tariffs published just before 1 August stopped short of applying the 15% tariffs agreed by Trump and Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to US imports of EU vehicles.

Since 2 April, EU cars have been hit with 25% US tariffs under the section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act, which allows the US president to restrict imports of goods threatening US national security.

The deal concluded last Sunday with President Ursula von der Leyen was meant to apply the 15% tariffs to EU cars, and to exempt certain strategic products such as aircraft from tariffs, but neither proviso appears in the executive order.

The executive order imposes a blanket 15% tariff on EU goods to apply from 8 August. Goods already in transit before that date will enjoy the previous tariff rate of 10% until 5 October, the US order says. Any attempt to circumvent these tariffs will be penalized with a 40% duty on the goods concerned, the order adds.

Despite the apparent omissions from the order, EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič welcomed “the first results of the EU–US deal”.

“This reinforces stability for businesses as well as trust in the transatlantic economy,” he said on X, adding: “EU exporters now benefit from a more competitive position.”

Šefčovič also said, however, that “the work continues”, referring to ongoing negotiations on a joint statement intended to formalise the political trade agreement reached on July 27.

Diverging narratives

The Commission and the US administration are struggling to agree on a joint text, and up to now have pushed diverging narratives on the deal.

Uncertainty remains over the fate of steel and aluminium, currently hit by 50% US tariffs, which, according to the Commission, are expected to soon be subject to lower tariff-rate quotas. Negotiations are also ongoing over a series of exemptions, as pressure mounts from the EU wine and spirits industry.

In a factsheet published on Monday, the US also claimed that the EU committed not to apply telecommunications network usage fees in an upcoming Digital Network Act, which is currently being disputed between EU telecom companies and US tech giants in Brussels.

On Thursday the Commission noted that a white paper on digital networks published in February 2024 assessed that imposing a network fee was “not a viable solution”. “Such an exemption would not apply to US company only,” a Commission spokesperson said.

Published on
31/07/2025 – 7:00 GMT+2

ADVERTISEMENT

A joint statement is set to follow the framework deal agreed by US President Donald Trump and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday in Scotland.

The statement should in theory come before 1 August, the date after which Trump had threatened to apply 30% blanket tariffs on EU imports if no trade deal was reached, though there is no clarity on when it will arrive.

With both sides still wrangling over the details, one thing is clear: it will not be legally binding. “That joint statement itself is not a legally binding document but it’s rather a roadmap,” EU Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said on Tuesday, describing the statement as “a series of political commitments”.

That might work in the EU’s favour, given the massive commitments it has made in terms of purchases and investments: €750 billion in US energy, €600 billion in investments and purchases of weapons. The EU lacks legal capacity to make such commitments anyway and they will broadly rest on the private sector.

The trade deal agreed between the US and Indonesia last week is cited as an example of how the statement might look. That agreement contains figures on tariffs applied by both signatories and purchase commitments, but it also includes a lengthy section detailing Indonesia’s commitments to ease non-tariff barriers.

Tariffs and non-tariff barriers

The EU/US joint statement might be expected to explicitly set out that 15% tariffs will apply to EU imports, as was agreed on 27 July by Trump and von der Leyen, but there is still no clarity on exemptions, which are still under negotiation, with the EU for example hoping to secure zero tariff rating on wines and spirits.

Regarding US imports to the EU, there should be a list of US products enjoying 0% EU tariffs. “We will publish that list in the context of the finalisation of the joint statement so that this is clear where exactly we are going,” an EU official said.

That will include non-sensitive agricultural products and fisheries products: nuts, processed fish, some dairy products and pet food, according to the official.

Some industrial products should also be covered as well as certain chemicals linked to fertilisers, “where we see the US as an alternative source of supply to Russia”, the EU official said.

It remains to be seen how the EU will navigate the issue of non-tariff barriers. The EU has remained adamant that there will be no question of revisiting digital or phytosanitary regulations — but the US continues to sledge those rules as discriminatory.

An EU official said the US administration will issue executive orders for a number of countries clarifying new tariffs levels, and there may be an order for the EU.

ADVERTISEMENT

After weeks of negotiations, the EU and the US reached an agreement on Sunday in the tariff dispute that has split the two since mid-March: the EU will face a 15% tariff on its exports to the US, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced.

“We have stabilised on a single 15% tariff rate for the vast majority of EU exports. This rate applies across most sectors, including cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals,” she said, adding “this 15% is a clear ceiling – no stacking, all-inclusive – so it gives much-needed clarity for our citizens and businesses.”

Cars, which have been subject to a 27.5% tariff for several months, will now face a 15% tariff. A modest victory for German manufacturers.

Von der Leyen also announced that zero-for-zero tariffs will apply to certain chemicals, certain generic drugs, semiconductor-making equipment, some agricultural products (but with the exclusion of all sensitive products like beef, rice, ethanol, sugar or poultry), some natural resources and critical raw materials.

However, uncertainties remain regarding the details and the sectors covered by the 15% rate, the legal certainty of the deal reached on Sunday and the purchase and investment commitment of the EU.

1. No legally binding agreement yet

The agreement reached will not be legally binding for both parties for some time. When exactly remains uncertain. A joint statement is expected to be released by 1 August— the deadline set by US President Donald Trump when he threatened to impose a 30% tariff on the EU.

“It will be a relatively light joint statement” an EU official said, adding that the EU is also awaiting the adoption of an executive order by the US that would bring some certainty to what has been agreed. Until then, negotiations on exemptions to the 15% tariffs will continue.

“Given that we want to make sure that the US delivers on its parts quickly, we will also want to deliver quickly on our part,” the official said, adding: “We are currently looking into the exact legal basis together with Council and the European Parliament.” A bilateral international agreement between the EU and the US would take time, so other instruments might be considered by the Commission.

2. Which EU products are exempt?

Aircraft will be exempt from the 15% tariffs, meaning they will be sent to the US with no tariffs. The production lines in these sectors are too intertwined for the US to risk making their aircraft more expensive.

However, the EU will keep negotiating other exemptions, with wine and spirits high on its agenda. Since the beginning of the negotiation, EU industries have continuously warned about the consequences of a deal that would penalise them.

“We truly believe the trade of wine is of great benefit for both EU and US companies, and it must be included in the 0-for-0 tariff arrangement,” Marzia Varvaglione, president of the Comite europeen des entreprises de vin said in a statement on Sunday, adding: “It’s not just the EU side saying this—our US counterparts have also been strong advocates for protecting this vital exchange.”

3. Steel and aluminium: A quota system still to be negotiated

The US currently imposes 50% tariffs on steel and aluminium. This will stay until both sides agree on a quota system. The Commission remains confident of its leverage in the coming talks however. “I think that is where economics kick in and business interests kick in,” the same EU official said, adding that the bloc’s provision of speciality steel is something that “US manufacturing badly needs”.

But the European steel industry appeared rattled on Monday. “If a zero tariff on our traditional exports to the US is confirmed, we would be going in the right direction,” Axel Eggert, director general of the European Steel Association (EUROFER) said, but he added: “There is no clarity yet. As always, the devil is in the detail.”

The uncertainty is offset by a commitment of the EU and the US to jointly fight global overcapacities, mainly coming from China.

4. Energy: The EU’s purchase commitment will depend on its industry.

The EU committed to buy $750 billions’ worth of US energy over the next three years. That’s to say $250 billion annually directed towards US liquefied natural gas, oil and nuclear industries. “We’ve been looking at our needs also in terms of the phasing out of energy imports from Russia,” the EU official said.

However the official conceded that there is no public commitment to delivering on this since the EU and its institutions will not be doing the actual buying. “We can help with aggregating demand and facilitating certain things, and we can look at where there are maybe bottlenecks in infrastructure,” the official said.

The EU also committed to purchasing US AI microchips on top of the $750 billion.

5. EU investment in the US will depend on business

EU companies will invest $600 billion in the US, according to the deal. But here again, there’s no public authority that will be monitoring this, as it is the case in the Japan-US deal reached on 22 July where investments are equity, loans and guarantees from state-run agencies.

However the Commission ensures it had detailed contacts and discussions with different business associations and companies in order to see what their investment intentions were.

“We have basically been aggregated what we know about investment intentions of private companies. And the way this will be expressed in the joint statement is that it is an intention,” another EU official said, adding: “So it is not something that the EU as a public authority can guarantee.”

Published on
14/07/2025 – 10:22 GMT+2

ADVERTISEMENT

Investors in Europe reeled from US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats on Monday morning, sending the major indexes into negative territory.

As of around 9.30am CEST, France’s CAC 40 was down 0.52% at 7,788.23, the UK’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.38% to 8,941.12, and Germany’s DAX dropped 0.85% to 24,049.73.

Spain’s IBEX 35 fell 0.80% to 13,897.80, while Italy’s FTSE MIB dropped 0.86% to 39,726.27.

The STOXX 600 slid 0.48% to 544.73 and the STOXX 50 fell 0.83% to 5,338.57.

The movements come as EU trade ministers are meeting on Monday morning to discuss President Trump’s surprise announcement of 30% tariffs on the European Union. Trump shared the plans on Saturday and said that the same rate, set to kick in on 1 August, would be applied to goods from Mexico.

European officials have been working to secure a deal with the US after the president threatened a 50% tariff on EU exports in May, up from an initially proposed 20% rate. President Trump then retracted the threat of a 50% duty, although retained separate tariffs on exports like steel, aluminium, and cars.

In response to Trump’s announcement over the weekend, the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would not impose retaliatory tariffs on US imports before 1 August, allowing time for negotiation.

Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, also told reporters ahead of the meeting on Monday: “We shouldn’t impose countermeasures at this stage, but we should prepare to be ready to use all the tools in the toolbox.” 

He added: “So we want a deal, but there’s an old saying: ‘If you want peace, you have to prepare for war.'”

Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s trade representative in its talks with the US, also said on Monday that negotiations would continue. “I’m absolutely 100% sure that a negotiated solution is much better than the tension which we might have after 1 August.”

He told reporters in Brussels: “I cannot imagine walking away without genuine effort. Having said that, the current uncertainty caused by unjustified tariffs cannot persist indefinitely and therefore we must prepare for all outcomes, including, if necessary, well-considered proportionate countermeasures.”

In light of US isolationism, the EU is also looking to expand trade with alternative partners. Leaders from the bloc will travel to China for a summit later this month, seeking to promote stronger relations despite disagreements over the alleged “dumping” of cheap Chinese goods in Europe. This accusation prompted the EU to impose its own tariffs on Chinese goods last year.

While in China for the summit, EU leaders will also be courting other Pacific nations like South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia, whose prime minister visited Brussels over the weekend to sign a new economic partnership with the EU. 

The downbeat investor sentiment in Europe also comes despite pledges to increase defence spending. France’s president Emmanuel Macron on Sunday pledged to raise France’s military spending by €6.5 billion over the next two years. Macron said the 2026 defence budget would be raised by €3.5bn, and another €3bn in 2027.

Published on 27/06/2025 – 1:22 GMT+2•Updated
1:44

ADVERTISEMENT

France and Germany exhibited diverging strategies in the trade dispute between the EU and the US ongoing since mid-March, following a Council summit in Brussels on Thursday. While Germany is eager to reach a swift agreement at all costs, France emphasised the important that bloc should not display weakness.

In a press conference after the summit, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the Council encouraged the Commission to use the remaining two weeks to come to a swift agreement. But he said that the Council had encouraged von der Leyen to pursue the EU’s own countermeasures if necessary. He said it was important to conclude something quickly and flagged the risks to the auto, chemicals and pharma sectors if 9 July arrives and the Trump tariffs take effect.

“My hope is that we can reach a swift conclusion,” French President Emmanuel Macron said after an EU summit on Thursday in Brussels, adding: “However, this willingness should not be mistaken for weakness. We want to conclude quickly because it serves our collective interest, supports the stability of international trade, and benefits our businesses—but not at any price.”

On Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the Commission’s strategy as overly technical and called for accelerating the negotiations by focusing on strategic sectors such as automobiles, steel, and energy, chemicals and pharma.

The US currently imposes 50% tariffs on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars and a 10% baseline on all EU imports.

Negotiations between the US and the EU have gained momentum since President Donald Trump and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met at the G7 summit in Canada on 16 June, as the critical 9 July deadline approaches, after which Trump has threatened to impose 50% tariffs on all EU imports.

On Thursday evening, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced to EU member states that she had received a US counter-proposal to the EU’s offer, though she did not disclose any details.

For several months, the EU has been offering the US a zero-for-zero tariff deal on all industrial products, along with commitments to purchase strategic goods such as liquid natural gas and soybeans.

However, few believe that securing 0% tariffs from the US is still a realistic possibility. “Since they decided to impose multiple tariffs on their trade partners across the globe, the US now has an appetite for the revenue that tariffs generate,” an EU official said, implying that the US rejected the EU offer.

The Commission is now reconsidering its approach to a future tariff-based deal, though the specific terms have yet to be determined. “The prevailing assumption is that a 10% tariff might be the benchmark,” an EU diplomat said.

“On some areas 10% is not so much, the EU imposes 10% on a lot of imports of cars, whether they are Chinese or Japanese,” another EU official told Euronews, adding that “for other products, such as aircraft, it’s much more complicated because the production line is very interdependent between the US and the EU. That’s why, you need a granular analysis.”

If the EU manages to reach an agreement by 9 July, it will not be a comprehensive agreement, two senior EU diplomats said.

“The most realistic outcome would likely be a general framework or a “principled agreement”, due to time constraints,” an EU diplomat commented.

WASHINGTON — President Trump said Sunday that the U.S. will delay implementation of a 50% tariff on goods from the European Union until July 9 to buy time for negotiations with the bloc.

That agreement came after a call Sunday with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, who had told Trump that she “wants to get down to serious negotiations,” according to the U.S. president.

“I told anybody that would listen, they have to do that,” Trump told reporters Sunday in Morristown, N.J., as he prepared to return to Washington. Von der Leyen, Trump said, vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out.”

In a social media post Friday, Trump had threatened to impose the 50% tariff on EU goods, asserting that the 27-member bloc had been “very difficult to deal with” on trade and that negotiations were “going nowhere.” Those tariffs would have kicked in starting June 1.

But the call with Von der Leyen appeared to smooth over tensions, at least for now.

“I agreed to the extension — July 9, 2025 — It was my privilege to do so,” Trump said on social media shortly after he spoke with reporters Sunday evening.

Von der Leyen said the EU and the U.S. “share the world’s most consequential and close trade relationship.”

“Europe is ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively,” she said. “To reach a good deal, we would need the time until July 9.”

Kim writes for the Associated Press.