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U.S. PRESIDENT Donald Trump on Sunday backed off his threat to speed up 50% tariffs on imports from the European Union, agreeing to extend his deadline for trade talks until July 9 after the head of the EU executive body said the bloc needed more time to "reach a good deal."
Trump threatened on Friday to intensify his trade war after expressing frustrations that trade talks were not moving quickly enough, saying he wanted steep new import taxes to start on June 1. The threat roiled global markets.
Reuters reported today that Trump relented after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told him during a phone call that the EU needed more time to come to an agreement and asked him to delay the tariffs until July, the deadline he had originally set when he announced new tariffs in April.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that he had granted the request. He said that von der Leyen told him "we will rapidly get together to see if we can work something out." Von der Leyen said in a social media post that the EU was ready to move quickly in trade talks.
Von der Leyen said in a post on X on Sunday that she had a "good" phone call with Trump.
In early April, Trump had set a 90-day window for trade talks for the EU and the U.S. which was to end on July 9.
US wants to make tanks, not T-shirts
Meanwhile, Trump said on Sunday his tariff policy was aimed at promoting the domestic manufacturing of tanks and technology products, not sneakers and T-shirts.
Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One in New Jersey, Trump said he agreed with comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on April 29 that the U.S. does not necessarily need a "booming textile industry" - comments that drew criticism from the National Council of Textile Organizations.
"We're not looking to make sneakers and T-shirts. We want to make military equipment. We want to make big things. We want to do the AI thing with computers," Reuters quoted Trump saying.
"I'm not looking to make T-shirts, to be honest. I'm not looking to make socks. We can do that very well in other locations. We are looking to do chips and computers and lots of other things, and tanks and ships," Trump said.
Trump, who has upended world markets with the broad imposition of tariffs, revived his harsh trade rhetoric on Friday when he pushed for a 50% tariff on European Union goods starting June 1 and warned Apple, he may impose a 25% levy on all imported iPhones bought by U.S. consumers. - May 26, 2025
