U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Small Business Summit in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 4, 2026.
Kylie Cooper | Reuters
President Donald Trump has said he will give the European Union until July 4 to ratify its trade agreement with the U.S., threatening to raise tariffs to “much higher” levels if the 27-nation bloc fails to do so.
In a post on Truth Social late Thursday, Trump issued a new trade deadline during a “great call” with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, one in which he said both leaders agreed Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.
The conversation took place shortly after the U.S. president pledged to raise tariffs on cars and trucks imported from the EU to 25%, accusing the bloc of not complying with the terms of the deal struck at his golf course in Scotland last July.
“I’ve been waiting patiently for the EU to fulfill their side of the Historic Trade Deal we agreed in Turnberry, Scotland, the largest Trade Deal, ever! A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!” Trump said.
“I agreed to give her until our Country’s 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels,” he added, referring to July 4.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Trump was indicating that the tariffs would apply to all EU goods or whether the increase would only apply to autos. His latest comments suggest that he is backing away from last week’s threat to impose higher tariffs on cars and trucks imported from the bloc, however.
The EU’s von der Leyen said via X that the bloc remains “fully committed” to the implementation of the trade deal. She added that “good progress is being made towards tariff reduction by early July.”
‘Still some way to go’
Hours after Trump’s trade threat against the EU, a U.S. trade court ruled that Trump’s latest 10% global tariffs were not justified under U.S. law.
It marked a fresh blow to the Trump administration’s trade policy after the Supreme Court ruled earlier in the year that the president could not issue even broader double-digit tariffs.
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, after an announcement of a trade deal between the U.S. and EU, in Turnberry, Scotland, Britain, July 27, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
The European Parliament’s chief trade negotiator, Bernd Lange, said Thursday that EU lawmakers and governments had made “good progress” to finalize a deal that would drop its levies on the U.S. to zero, but added that “there is still some way to go.”
Trade negotiators are scheduled to meet again on May 10 for the next round of talks.
Speaking to Bloomberg earlier in the week, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that he expects the EU to keep “its side of the trade deal” that was agreed to in July last year.
