Speaking today at the Oval Office, US President Donald Trump said the European Union must come forward to negotiate a new trade deal. The United States and the EU have been at opposing ends for the last several weeks as tariffs have been traded back and forth. Both the EU and the US have paused their tariffs against the other, however, Trump says it’s up to the EU to establish a new deal.
JUST IN: 🇺🇸🇪🇺 President Trump says EU has come forward to negotiate a new trade deal.
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) April 14, 2025
The global economy faced unexpected headwinds this month when the United States announced a sweeping economic policy that affected nearly every country on the planet. Indeed, the Trump administration issued a global tariff as it sought to bring these nations back to the negotiating table. In response, a host of nations responded with their own set of retaliatory tariffs.
In response to the plan, the EU agreed to issue its own 25% tariff on the US. However, following Trump’s freeze, the collective union ended up doing the same. Now, the two entities appear in a standoff, with Trump saying the latter must initiate talks.
Trump Says He can be Flexible on Tariff Policy
Asked about the exemptions from tariffs on some electronics that were announced over the weekend, President Donald Trump said he could be flexible but didn’t offer any specifics. “Look, I’m a very flexible person. I don’t change my mind, but I’m flexible, and you have to be. You just can’t have a wall, and you’ll only go, you know, sometimes you have to go around it under it or above it.”
Director of the National Economic Council of the United States, Kevin Hassett, also recently said that the US is already close to multiple trade deals with other countries. “I think that we’ve got more than 10 deals where there’s very, very good, amazing offers made to the US that USTR Trade Representative Jameson Greer and Howard Lutnick and the rest of our trade team and the President are stewing over whether those deals are good enough,” Hassett said Monday.
Neither the EU nor any representation has responded to Trump’s demand.