French Minister Calls for EU–US Trade Deal Deadline Extension

France’s finance minister has called for more time to secure a trade deal between the European Union and the United States as the 90-day deadline imposed by the Trump administration ends next week.

On April 2, President Donald Trump instituted sweeping new tariff policies on U.S. trade partners, including reciprocal tariffs on nations deemed to have trade barriers against U.S. goods. For the EU, the reciprocal tariff was set at 20 percent. On April 9, Trump announced that he was pausing reciprocal tariffs for a period of 90 days, which is scheduled to end on July 9.

“I think that we are going to strike a deal with the Americans,” French Finance Minister Eric Lombard told the newspaper La Tribune Dimanche in an interview published on June 29.

“Regarding the deadline, my wish is for another postponement. I would rather have a good deal than a bad deal on July 9.”

The French minister’s comments came as Trump clarified, in a June 29 interview with Fox News, that he is not considering extending the deadline.

“What I will do just sometime prior to [July 9] is, we’ll send a letter to all these countries,” Trump said.

“I‘d rather just send them a letter—very fair letter—saying: ‘Congratulations, we’re going to allow you to trade in the United States of America. You’re going to pay a 25 percent tariff, or 20 percent, or 40 or 50 percent.’ I would rather do that.”

Washington has so far reached trade agreements with the UK and China, and deals with the EU, Japan, Mexico, and Canada are pending, Trump said.

The United States trades with about 200 nations, making it difficult to negotiate agreements with all trade partners individually, he said.

According to a June 12 update by the European Council, the EU and the United States have the “largest bilateral trade and investment relationship” in the world.

“Together, they represent almost 30 percent of global trade in goods and services and 43 percent of global [gross domestic product],” it reads.

In 2024, trade between the two regions stood at 1.68 trillion euros ($1.97 trillion). The EU had a trade surplus of 50 billion euros ($58 billion) against the United States last year, for both goods and services combined.

In goods, Europe had a trade surplus of 198 billion euros ($231 billion), while for services, the EU had a deficit of about 148 billion euros ($173 billion).

“In that respect, the EU and US economies complement each other very well,” the council stated.

Trade Deal With China

On June 25, Trump told reporters that the United States had signed a trade deal with China but did not share any further details.

The initial agreement was reached last month, after which both sides brought down unconventionally high tariff rates.

The deal came a day after Trump said he would allow China to resume the importing of oil from Iran.

China warned nations making trade deals with the United States to not make agreements at the expense of Chinese interests, the State Council Information Office said in a June 30 statement.

“If such a situation arises, China will not accept it and will take resolute countermeasures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” a spokesperson from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said.

Talks With India Continue

The United States and India are continuing to negotiate for a mutually beneficial trade deal.

The United States is pushing for greater access to agricultural goods and ethanol, citing a significant trade imbalance, along with expanded market access for dairy, alcoholic beverages, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices.

India’s auto, pharmaceutical, and small-scale companies are lobbying for a gradual opening of the protected sectors, fearing competition from U.S. companies.

Canada Backs Down

U.S. trade negotiations with Canada faced hiccups when Ottawa announced plans to impose a digital services tax that would affect U.S. tech companies.

The tax, a 3 percent levy on revenue earned from digital services offered to Canadian users, was set to come into effect on June 30 and would have negatively affected Amazon, Google, and Airbnb.

In a June 27 Truth Social post, Trump called the tax a “direct and blatant attack” on the United States and said he was ending all trade negotiations with Canada.

Following Trump’s statement, Canada rescinded the digital services tax to prevent stalling its trade negotiations with the United States.

Reuters contributed to the report.