EU delays retaliatory tariffs on US products amid trade negotiations

The European Union is delaying retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products amid trade negotiations, before 30% tariffs on European goods begin next month.

″This is now the time for negotiations,″ European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday, following President Donald Trump's letter announcing new tariffs of 30% on products from the EU and Mexico starting Aug. 1, according to the Associated Press.

The EU is the world’s largest trading bloc with 27 member countries, and it had been scheduled to impose ″countermeasures″ starting Monday at midnight Brussels time, which is 6 p.m. EDT.

Those countermeasures would be delayed until Aug. 1, von der Leyen said, as Trump’s letter shows ″that we have until the first of August″ to negotiate.

″We have always been clear that we prefer a negotiated solution,″ she said. If a deal can’t be reached, she said that ″we will continue to prepare countermeasures so we are fully prepared.″

The biggest exports to the U.S. from Europe are pharmaceuticals, cars, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments, and wine and spirits.

Trump told the EU in his letter that the U.S. trade deficit with the trading bloc was a national security threat.

White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told ABC News on Sunday, “The bottom line is that he’s seen some sketches of deals that had been negotiated with Howard Lutnick and the rest of the trade team, and the president thinks that the deals need to be better, and to basically put a line in the sand, he sent these letters out to folks. And we’ll see how it works out.”

The value of EU-U.S. trade in goods and services will amount to $2 trillion in 2024, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat.

European trade ministers are scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss trade relations with the U.S., as well as with China. With Trump's threatened tariffs, the EU is considering closer ties with China.

Von der Leyen said while she was with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto that the trade tensions with the U.S. show the importance of ’’diversifying our trade relationships.″ While she announced closer cooperation between the EU and Indonesia, she emphasized the need for ‘’predictable’’ trading partnerships based on ‘’trust.’'

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said Sunday that her country would actively work for a fair deal.

“Europe has the economic and financial strength to make the case for a fair and common-sense agreement,” Meloni's office said in a statement.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was heading to Washington, D.C., for talks on Monday with the Trump administration and Congress.