Trump hails 'constructive' step within the US-EU buying and selling talks when markets are ready for a store

The US President Donald Trump has observation in the Memorial Amphitheater on the annual National Memorial Day on the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, USA, May 26, 2025.

Ken Cedeno | Reuters

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had monitored “positive” steps in the trade talks with the European Union after he agreed to delay a 50% tariff from the block by July 9th.

“I was just informed that the EU has asked to quickly determine meeting data,” Trump wrote in a contribution about the social platform of truth.

“This is a positive event, and I hope that you will finally open the same demand for China the European nations for trading with the United States.”

Trump also said on Tuesday that the EU had to “slowly” run over a trade agreement in negotiations with the White House.

The sudden view of even larger tariffs on one of the largest trading partners in the United States rattled the markets when he was threatened by Trump last Friday. In a post last week, Trump said that discussions with the EU went “nowhere”.

However, the feeling became positive on Tuesday, which had hopes for a breakthrough. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on X at the weekend that the EU was “ready to drive the talks quickly and determined”, while the European trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Monday that he had “good calls” with US Minister of Trade Lutnick.

Europe regional Stoxx 600 After Trump's comments on Tuesday, the index won slightly, the last trade at 0.55% in the previous session, while the US markets opened much higher.

The 27-member alliance was hit on April 2 as part of Trump's “mutual” tariff strategy with a tariff of 20%, which was then reduced to 10% for almost all trading partners for 90 days. The simultaneous US tasks for cars, steel and aluminum also affect the block exporters.

EU officials have repeatedly emphasized that they want to achieve a contract with the White House, but that this will not be about the costs. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, started a consultation for tariff countermeasures on US imports worth 95 billion euros (107.4 billion US dollars) at the beginning of this month if no deal is reached.

CNBC contacted the European Commission for a comment.

On May 8, the United States unveiled the outline of a trade agreement with Great Britain, the first such agreement in the context of the latest Trump administration, although companies say that they are waiting for further details. The deal includes a 10% basic tariff for Great Britain in the United States, which indicates that other countries will be exposed to at least one similar rate with a similar price.

Trump generally hit a cheap tone towards the UK because he accused more of more balanced trade relationships in goods in the USA with the USA, but the EU – with a deficit – has accused the unjustified treatment of the United States. According to EU numbers, the EU-US trade is roughly balanced when taking goods and services into account.