Markets cheered as Trump hails progress in US-EU trade talks

Donald Trump helped send shares rising on Wall Street yesterday after he indicated there had been positive progress in US trade talks with the EU, commending the bloc for calling to "quickly establish meeting dates".

- Lisa O'Carroll

"I have just been informed that the EU has called to quickly establish meeting dates. This is a positive event, and I hope that they will," he wrote on his Truth Social platform, advising that the US would be "very happy" if the bloc followed China by securing a deal.

However, the president also repeated criticism of Brussels negotiators and defended his decision on Friday to threaten a 50% tariff on EU imports from 1 June, which he postponed two days later until 9 July.

"I was extremely satisfied with the 50% tariff allotment on the European Union, especially since they were slow walking (to put it mildly!), our negotiations with them," he wrote.

In what looks like another veiled threat on potential further tariffs, he added that he was empowered to "set a deal" if the US was "unable to make a deal" or was "treated unfairly".

Nevertheless, the president's comments and his weekend U-turn on 50% tariffs helped lift US markets, which had been closed on Monday. The S&P 500 rose 1.9% in early trading, the Dow Jones added 1.6%, and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite went up by 2.4%.