Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said it was “impossible” to reach a detailed trade deal by President Donald Trump’s July 9 deadline.
Von der Leyen said the US and European Union were aiming for a July 9 “agreement in principle” trade deal, which would be light on details.
She was speaking at a press conference in the Danish city of Aarhus on Thursday, at a European Union summit to mark the start of Denmark’s six-month-long EU presidency.
“It’s a huge task because we have the largest trade volume globally between the European Union and the United States, 1.5 trillion euros, very complex and a huge quantity,” she said.
She added, “Indeed, what we are aiming at is an agreement in principle. Because I mean, such a volume in 90 days, an agreement in detail, impossible.”
The European Union was one of the hardest hit by the slew of tariffs Trump announced on April 2, seeing a tariff rate of 20%.
Responding to the tariffs, Von der Leyen said in an April statement on X that Trump’s tariffs were a “major blow to the world economy” with “dire” consequences for millions of people.
Trump later issued a 90-day pause to allow for trade negotiations, and all of the US’s trade partners were subject to an interim 10% tariff rate.
In February, months before the April 2 tariffs, Trump ordered a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, and the EU retaliated with tariffs on 26 billion euros, or $28.4 billion, worth of US goods.
In May, he floated raising the EU’s tariff rate to 50% from June 1, saying the group was “very difficult to deal with” and the US’s trade negotiations with the EU were “going nowhere.”
However, Trump retracted the threat after a call with Von der Leyen. He said she had requested an extension on the June 1 deadline.
“I agreed to the extension — July 9, 2025 — It was my privilege to do so,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on May 25.
On May 26, Paula Pinho, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, said in a press conference that Von der Leyen and Trump had “agreed both to fast-track the trade negotiations and to stay in close contact.”
Representatives of the European Commission and the White House did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Read the full article here
