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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.
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