Trump Threatens EU With ‘Fourth of July’ Ultimatum Over Trade Deal Compliance

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned the European Union (EU) that the United States could impose significantly higher tariffs on European imports if the bloc fails to fulfill its end of the trade deal by Fourth of July, tying the ultimatum to America’s Independence Day celebrations.

Mr. Trump said after a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that he has “been waiting patiently for the EU to fulfill their side of the Historic Trade Deal we agreed in Turnberry, Scotland, the largest Trade Deal, ever!”

The agreement called for the EU to eliminate tariffs on U.S. industrial goods and grant preferential access for selected American agricultural and seafood products, while the United States maintained a 15% tariff ceiling on most EU exports.

“A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!” Mr. Trump said in a Truth Social post. “I agreed to give her until our Country’s 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels.”

The move appeared to grant the European Union additional time after the U.S. President warned on May 1st that EU auto imports would be subjected to a higher 25% tariff from this week.

Von der Leyen struck a more conciliatory tone, saying both sides remained committed to implementing the deal and that “good progress” was being made toward reducing tariffs by early July. EU negotiators are expected to resume talks with U.S. officials later this month in an effort to avoid a broader trade confrontation.

The 2025 agreement, sometimes referred to as the “Turnberry deal,” established a framework under which the United States would apply a 15% tariff ceiling on most EU exports while the EU pledged to remove tariffs on many American industrial products and reduce non-tariff barriers. However, according to senior U.S. officials, implementation on the European side has been slower.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said this week that Washington had already fulfilled its obligations under the accord, but accused Brussels of making little progress on promised reforms. Greer warned that the administration was prepared to restore tougher tariff measures if the EU failed to meet the July deadline.

Mr. Greer said the European Union had committed last year to scrapping industrial tariffs on U.S. goods, granting duty-free access for selected agricultural products, and easing a range of non-tariff barriers and regulatory restrictions.

“We haven’t seen any of those things come to fruition,” he said. “Seven, eight months later, the EU has not actually implemented any single part of their trade deal obligations,” he said, adding that ⁠Washington ​had kept its part of the bargain by adjusting its ​tariffs.

“So at some point you have to say, well, if the EU is not in compliance, we’ll wait to be ​in compliance until they are as well.”

The dispute comes amid wider uncertainty surrounding President Trump’s tariff agenda after recent legal setbacks in U.S. courts. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against parts of Trump’s earlier emergency tariff measures, while a federal trade court this week also struck down aspects of his replacement tariff plan under Section 122 of the Trade Act.

Despite those rulings, the Trump administration has signaled it intends to continue using other trade authorities, including Section 232 national security tariffs and Section 301 investigations, to maintain pressure on trading partners.

So, after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Mr. Trump’s earlier global tariff measures in February, his administration replaced them with a blanket 10% surcharge layered on top of existing import duties, pushing tariffs on some EU goods above 15%.

So, the European Union’s trade chief, Maros Sefcovic, in a meeting with Mr. Greer in Paris on May 5th, is said to have updated the U.S. Trade Representative on the likely schedule for the EU to implement the removal of tariffs on U.S. industrial goods, as well as sought a prompt return to the agreed 15% all-inclusive tariff arrangement under the Turnberry deal.

That said, some European officials have also warned they could respond with countermeasures if Washington moves ahead with additional tariffs.

French President Emmanuel Macron, for instance, said earlier this week that Europe and the United States should avoid wasting time on tariff threats and instead focus on preserving economic stability and investment flows between the two allies.

Mr. Macron further said that agreements must be respected and that “if they were challenged again, it would reopen everything,”  while warning that “the European Union has instruments that would then need to be activated.”

Tanmay Kadam is a geopolitical observer based in India. He has experience working as a Defense and International Affairs journalist for EurAsian Times. He can be contacted at tanmaykadam700@gmail.com.