Trump agrees to extend EU trade talks after 50% tariff threatVon der Leyen echoed Trump's assessment of the call and said the bloc was "ready to advance talks swiftly and decisively". Last month, he announced a 20% tariff - or import tax - on most EU goods, but later cut this to 10% to allow time for negotiations. On Friday, Trump expressed frustration with the pace of talks and threatened to raise the tariff rate to an even higher level of 50% as soon as 1 June. US President Donald Trump has agreed to extend a deadline to negotiate tariffs with the European Union by more than a month. Before threatening the 50% rate, Trump had set a deadline of 8 July for both sides to talk.