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Several EU governments have shown that swift deals with the US are urging Donald Trump to avoid a 50% tariff on the bloc and continue to talk to Washington rather than heading the path of conflict.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made an emergency call with Trump on Friday hours after the US president posed a threat, Italian officials said.
They added that Meloni then spoke to Chairman Ursula von der Reyen and called on her to resolve the differences with Trump through negotiations.
Meloni tried to serve as the bridge between Washington and Brussels, based on strong trust with both leaders.
Brussels’ body added that the Italian leader was one of the EU leaders who spoke with the committee president over the weekend.
Von Der Leyen then over a Sunday call, persuaded the US president to delay the increased taxation for more than a month until July 9th.
France, Spain, Ireland and Belgium are welcoming bids to accelerate consultations and avoid escalating the transatlantic trade war.
Trump said in a post about his true social networks that he was told by von der Leyen that “the speech will start quickly.” He added that it is his “privilege” to delay the increase in tariffs from the date before June 1st.
Having established ties with both Trump and von der Leyen, Meloni proposed a summit between the US presidents next month to ease tensions between leaders of the large EU economy, officials on the Supreme Committee and the US president.
Trump is scheduled to visit the Netherlands for the NATO summit from June 24-25. This is a trip that can provide further in-person meeting opportunities.
In comments Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed a “good exchange” between Trump and the Commission President. “We hope to continue this path and return to tariffs that are unlikely to allow for fruitful exchanges,” he told reporters during his visit to Vietnam.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Alvarez added that the phone is in the “right direction” and that Irish counterpart Simon Harris is exposing the country’s pharmaceutical industry to potential US tariffs that have been asked to sign “to protect employment and investment.”
With relatively small economies relying on exports, Belgium welcomed von der Reyen’s “constructive” approach.
Pola Pingho, a spokeswoman for von der Leyen, said the committee president and Trump agreed to a “fast pursuit” consultation and agreed to a second call between the two chief negotiators in four days on Monday.
EU trade commissioner Maroššhefčovič will speak with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
While the committee was implementing its trade policy, Pinho said von der Leyen was in “regular contact” with EU leaders to seek their opinions. The committee president did not mention defending the interests of the EU. This is the line that Shivchovich used after talking to us.
Member States have approved a 21 billion euro package with a tariff of up to 50% on US goods such as corn, wheat, motorcycles and clothing. The committee is also consulting member states about a list of 95 billion euros from other targets, including Boeing aircraft, automobiles and bourbon whiskey.
When Trump posed a 50% tariff threat on EU imports on Friday, he said the bloc had not made enough progress in response to US demands to cut the trade surplus.
He originally announced 20% against EU imports on April 2, his self-styled “liberation date,” but halved them later that month for a 90-day negotiation period to end on July 9.
Additional Reports by Laura Dubois of Brussels
