Von der Leyen, Trump hold 'good' call as EU pushes for trade deal by July 9

"President von der Leyen had a call with President Trump yesterday, and that they had good exchange, and that indeed the president continues to be in contact with EU leaders," Stefan de Keersmaecker, an EU spokesperson, told reporters at a press briefing.

The EU is racing to secure an agreement in principle before July 9 to avoid the risk of new US tariffs, which Washington says will now take effect on Aug. 1.

"We're working towards the 9th of July as the point where we want to have at a minimum agreement in principle with the US," EU Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said. "Progress has been made towards an agreement in principle."

Gill confirmed that "good progress" was made during EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic's visit to Washington last week and that consultations with EU member states followed on July 4. Political and technical-level contacts have continued since then.

"We are fully committed to finding a deal that benefits EU, businesses, consumers and the overall global economy, as has been our intention from the start," Gill added.

He declined to comment on Trump's letters outlining specific tariff terms would be sent out starting Monday, saying: "We're not going to comment on letters that we haven't received, and we're also not going to comment on comments made by the US administration."

In April, the US imposed "reciprocal" tariffs on most countries, later suspending them for 90 days to negotiate deals.