HANOI (Reuters) -French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and U.S. President Donald Trump had a “good exchange” and that he said he hopes they can get to the lowest tariffs possible.
“The discussions are advancing. There has been a good exchange between President Trump and President Von der Leyen and I hope we can continue on this road and return to the lowest possible tariffs that will allow for fruitful exchanges,” Macron told reporters during a trip to Vietnam.
Macron also said tariffs were not the right way to solve trade imbalances.
A weekend telephone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen gave “new impetus” to trade talks, an EU spokesperson said on Monday.
After the conversation, Trump dropped his threat to impose 50% tariffs on imports from the European Union next month, restoring a July 9 deadline to allow for talks between Washington and the 27-nation bloc to produce a deal.
The EU spokesperson said von der Leyen had initiated the call.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Dominique Vidalon; additional reporting by Bart Meijer and Charlotte van Campenhout in Brussels; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by GV De Clercq)
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