Fact Check: The European Union is still negotiating a trade truce with the United States as of June 9, 2018, according to Ursula von der Leyen.

Fact Check: "The European Union is still negotiating a trade truce with the United States as of June 9, 2018, according to Ursula von der Leyen."

What We Know

The claim states that as of June 9, 2018, the European Union (EU) was still negotiating a trade truce with the United States, as asserted by Ursula von der Leyen. However, this claim is misleading. In fact, on June 15, 2025, von der Leyen confirmed that the EU aimed to finalize a trade deal with the US before a July 9 deadline, indicating that negotiations were ongoing at that time but not in 2018 as the claim suggests (source-1). The context of the negotiations in 2018 was primarily centered around tariffs that were set to be imposed by the US on EU imports, which were delayed until July 9, 2018, to allow for further discussions (source-4).

Analysis

The claim inaccurately attributes a statement about ongoing negotiations to a specific date in 2018. In reality, the significant discussions regarding trade between the EU and the US were marked by tensions due to proposed tariffs by the Trump administration. Ursula von der Leyen, who became the President of the European Commission in December 2019, was not in that position during the claimed timeframe of June 2018. Therefore, she could not have made a statement regarding negotiations at that time (source-3).

The timeline of events indicates that while there were discussions about tariffs and trade relations in 2018, the specific negotiations referenced in the claim did not involve von der Leyen, as she had not yet assumed her role. The negotiations that she later referred to in 2025 were a continuation of earlier discussions but were not ongoing as of June 9, 2018 (source-2).

Conclusion

The claim that "The European Union is still negotiating a trade truce with the United States as of June 9, 2018, according to Ursula von der Leyen" is False. The assertion misrepresents the timeline of events and incorrectly attributes statements to von der Leyen prior to her tenure as President of the European Commission. The negotiations referenced were not ongoing in 2018 as claimed.

Sources

1. EU Aims to Finalize US Trade Deal Before July 9: Von der ...
2. Ursula von der Leyen - The New York Times
3. Ursula von der Leyen - Wikipedia
4. Trump agrees to extend EU trade talks after 50% tariff threat - BBC
5. Europe says that it holds a lot of trade cards on the eve of Trump's ...
6. E.U. says it will fast-track tariff talks with U.S. after Trump ...
7. A European Steel and Metals Action Plan - European Commission
8. Von der Leyen: I won't meet Trump in US until we can have 'concrete ...