The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had a “good exchange” phone on Sunday with US President Donald Trump on the issue of customs duties, said one of his spokesmen.
The European Executive, responsible for negotiating on behalf of the 27 EU member states, is working hard to dodge the burning customs duties that Donald Trump threatens to impose their products before July 9. The European Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, responsible for these negotiations, has multiplied trips in Washington in recent days to exchange with their counterparts on the subject.
“Now we are at the beginning of the end of the battle”
“At the moment, our first priority is to find an agreement, at least an agreement in principle with the United States,” said another commission spokesman, Olof Gill. “Now we are at the beginning of the end of the battle, at least with respect to an agreement in principle,” he said, without giving more details.
The Republican president threatened the European bloc with a 50%surcharge, much higher than the April project (20%). During its press point on Monday, the European Commission refused to decide on the possibility that the deadline of July 9 was postponed on August 1, as Donald Trump suggested.
He invited journalists to “redirect their questions to the US administration.” Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Trump had limited contacts since the US president returned to power. The US president, who does not hide his little taste for the European Union and its institutions, had described the European leader as “fantastic.”
Source: BFM TV
