‘Good exchange’ Sunday between von der Leyen and Trump

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had a "good exchange" over the phone Sunday with U.S. President Donald Trump on the issue of tariffs, according to one of her spokespersons.

"They had a good exchange," stated Stefan de Keersmaecker on Monday, assuring that "efforts are still ongoing at various levels" to reach a trade agreement with the United States.

The European executive, tasked with negotiating on behalf of the 27 EU member states, is working tirelessly to avoid the heavy tariffs that Donald Trump threatens to impose on their products by July 9.

European Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, responsible for these negotiations, has made several trips to Washington in recent days to talk with his counterparts on the issue.

"For now, our first priority is to find an agreement, at least a principled agreement with the United States," said another spokesperson for the Commission, Olof Gill.

"We are now at the beginning of the end of the battle, at least as far as a principled agreement is concerned," he estimated, without providing further details.

The Republican president has threatened the European bloc with a 50 percent surcharge, much higher than the April proposal (20 percent).

During its press briefing on Monday, the European Commission, however, refused to comment on the possibility that the July 9 deadline would be pushed back to Aug. 1, as Donald Trump suggested.

It invited journalists to "redirect their questions to the American administration."

Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Trump have had limited contact since the U.S. president returned to power. The U.S. president, who doesn’t hide his little appreciation for the European Union and its institutions, had described the European leader as "fantastic."