On May 23, CNN reported that the EU Commission spokesman, Olaf Gil, refused to comment immediately on US President Trump's statement that a 50% tariff would be imposed on the EU from June 1st. He said that they would make remarks after the EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Maros Sefcovic, spoke with the US Trade Representative, Jamison Greer.
Olaf Gil did not specify the exact time of their call. According to Reuters, the call is scheduled for 11:00 AM Eastern Time (11:00 PM Beijing Time) on the morning of the 23rd. The spokesperson for the Office of the United States Trade Representative did not respond to CNN's request for comments.
Shortly after Trump released the relevant content on the 23rd, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News in an interview: "The quality of the proposal from the EU is far inferior to the plans proposed by our other important trade partners."
Trump is considering a 50% tariff on the EU, which is more than double the so-called "reciprocal" tariff he initially proposed. Shortly after proposing this "reciprocal tariff" in April, Trump announced a 90-day tax deferral for most countries to allow further negotiations.
The "tax deferral period" will end on July 9th. So far, the US has only announced a trade agreement with the UK.
Bessent refused to reveal which country might reach an agreement next, but he said that negotiations with India were "progressing smoothly," and many Asian countries had put forward "very good proposals."
Bessent said that the US was focused on negotiating with 18 major trading partners. He believed that "except for the EU, most (trading partners) have been very sincere during negotiations."
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