President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened the European Union (EU) with steeper tariffs if the bloc fails to ratify its trade agreement with Washington by July 4, raising pressure on Brussels as implementation of the pact drags on.
“I agreed to give her until our Country’s 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels,” Trump said in a Truth Social post after what he described as a “great call’ with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The warning comes despite both sides publicly signaling progress on the deal, which was struck last July and set tariffs on most European goods at 15%.
Von der Leyen struck a more conciliatory tone in a post on X, saying the two leaders had discussed Middle East tensions and agreed that Iran “must never possess a nuclear weapon.” She also said the two sides remained committed to implementing the trade pact.
“Good progress is being made towards tariff reduction by …
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