By WSJ Staff

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the European Union was tough to deal with, and securing a trade pact with the bloc would likely take longer than most other such deals.

The EU "got a little religion and made a proper offer" to Washington after President Trump threatened a 50% tariff rate, he told CNBC late Wednesday.

Working through trade issues was labor intensive, Lutnick said. "Remember, there are 15,000 lines of code of every product and every kind of tariff. And you just got to work through those, get those down, get America the proper opportunity to trade into these countries," he said, citing U.S. auto sales into Europe.

"That takes a lot of work, but Europe has said they're on it now," Lutnick said. He said was optimistic about reaching an agreement, but "Europe will be probably the very, very end."

Also Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. could extend its pause on reciprocal tariffs for trading partners the administration views as negotiating in good faith.

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June 12, 2025 06:08 ET (10:08 GMT)

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