Trump hails ‘positive’ step in U.S.-EU trade negotiations as markets hope for a deal

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he welcomed the European Union, after he agreed to delay a 50% tariff on goods from the bloc until July 9.

“I have just been informed that the E.U. has called to quickly establish meeting dates,” Trump wrote in a post on the Truth Social platform.

“This is a positive event, and I hope that they will, FINALLY, like my same demand to China, open up the European Nations for Trade with the United States of America.”

Trump also said Tuesday that the EU had been “slow walking” in negotiations with the White House over a trade deal.

The sudden prospect of even greater tariffs on one of the U.S.’ biggest trade partners rattled markets when it was threatened by Trump last Friday, though sentiment turned positive on Tuesday amid hopes of a breakthrough. In a post last week, Trump said discussions with the EU were “going nowhere.”

The 27-member alliance was hit with a 20% tariff on the EU on April 2 as part of Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff strategy, which was then cut for almost all trading partners to 10% for 90 days. Concurrent U.S. duties on autos, steel and aluminum are also hitting the bloc’s exporters.

EU officials have repeatedly stressed that they want to reach a deal with the White House, but that this will not come at any cost. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, earlier this month launched a consultation on tariff countermeasures targeting U.S. imports worth 95 billion euros ($107.4 billion) if a deal is not reached.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X over the weekend that the EU was “ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively.”

European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said in a post on X on Monday that he had “good calls” with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and that they would “continue to stay in constant contact.”

CNBC has contacted the European Commission for comment.

This breaking news story will be updated shortly.