Donald Trump has given the European Union until 4 July to implement its side of the US-EU trade deal, warning that failure to do so would result in “much higher” tariffs. The US president walked back from an earlier threat to tear up part of the agreement by raising duties on car imports.
Posting on Truth Social, Trump said he had “been waiting patiently for the EU to fulfill their side of the Historic Trade Deal we agreed in Turnberry, Scotland”. He added that he had spoken to EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and “agreed to give her until our Country’s 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels”. The 4 July holiday marks 250 years since American independence.
Von der Leyen said on Thursday that the bloc had made “good progress” towards ratifying the deal by early July. “We remain fully committed, on both sides, to its implementation,” she added. The European parliament has twice suspended ratification because of Trump’s threats over Greenland and tariffs, but German MEP Bernd Lange indicated a deal was close after six hours of formal talks in Brussels.
The EU trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, said “considerable progress” was made, with the next “triologue” talks scheduled for 19 May. It is understood MEPs are pushing for inclusion of steel in the deal, with exports to the US taxed at 50%. The 27-member EU bloc and the US struck a deal last July setting tariffs on most European goods at 15%, but Trump has been dissatisfied with the speed of implementation.
Cyprus, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, said it wanted to maintain “positive momentum” at talks on 19 May. Despite conditional approval by the European parliament, the deal must be negotiated with EU states before it can be implemented. Meanwhile, Trump’s latest 10% global tariffs were ruled illegal by the US trade court on Thursday, but they will remain in place pending an expected appeal.
