The European Union is delaying its retaliatory tariffs, which were set to take effect Monday, after President Donald Trump announced in a letter that his 30% tariff will begin for the EU on Aug. 1.

The EU is matching that deadline and hoping to reach a deal before the tariffs begin.

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“This is now the time for negotiations,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels on Sunday. She added that Trump’s letter shows “that we have until the 1st of August” to negotiate with the United States.

Europe’s top exports to the U.S. include cars, wine, spirits, pharmaceuticals, aircraft, chemicals, and medical instruments. In 2024, the U.S. traded nearly a trillion dollars in goods with the EU. The U.S. exported $370.2 billion in goods and imported $605.8 billion from the EU in the same year.

Von der Leyen said she prefers a negotiated solution to issuing countermeasures, which could raise prices for the EU and the U.S.

“We have always been clear that we prefer a negotiated solution,” she said, but if they can’t reach a deal, “we will continue to prepare countermeasures so we are fully prepared.″

Trump said he would only move forward with the EU if it worked toward balancing out the trade deficit.

“The United States of America has agreed to continue working with the European Union, despite having one of our largest Trade Deficits with you. Nevertheless, we have decided to move forward, but only with more balanced and fair TRADE,” Trump wrote in the letter to the EU.

He also said the trade deficit with the EU was a national security threat.

One of the biggest proponents for a trade deal is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a noted conservative. She said a trade war “would make us all weaker in the face of the global challenges we face together” and that Italy would take a role in negotiating a fair deal.

“Europe has the economic and financial strength to make the case for a fair and commonsense agreement,” her office said.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is traveling to Washington, D.C., on Monday to speak with the Trump administration and Congress. Meloni’s government wants to present itself as “a bridge” between the EU and the Trump administration.

Trump is not satisfied with the draft agreements on trade he has seen.

White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said on ABC News Sunday: “The bottom line is that he’s seen some sketches of deals that had been negotiated with Howard Lutnick and the rest of the trade team, and the president thinks that the deals need to be better, and to basically put a line in the sand, he sent these letters out to folks. And we’ll see how it works out.”

French President Emmanuel Macron is backing the European Commission in its efforts to win over the U.S. in talks and said he shares its “very strong disapproval” of the tariffs.

“With European unity, it is more than ever up to the Commission to assert the Union’s determination to resolutely defend European interests,” he said in a post on X.

Many of Europe’s industries, such as its illustrious and storied wine and cheese operation, have been worried about the volatile tariffs from the U.S. Jean-Francois Loiseau, the president of the Association Nationale des Industries Alimentaires, told Reuters that a 30% tariff would be “disastrous” for the French food industry.

HASSETT SAYS TRUMP HAS SEEN ‘SKETCHES OF DEALS’ AHEAD OF AUG. 1 TARIFF DEADLINE

The EU’s trade ministers will meet Monday to discuss trade with the U.S. and China as they weigh backing the latter country if trade relations with America sour.

Von der Leyen said the trade tensions with the U.S. show the importance of “diversifying our trade relationships,” which could include China and countries such as Indonesia.