“Our time and effort fully invested, as delivering forward-looking solutions remains a top EU priority. Staying in permanent contact,” EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on X after a call yesterday with US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick.

But Sefcovic did not make any comment on the court drama across the Atlantic.

In a ruling Wednesday, the US court of international trade had barred most of the tariffs announced since president Donald Trump took office, but an appeals court the next day preserved his sweeping import duties on China and other trading partners.

The short-term relief will now allow the appeals process to proceed.

Sefcovic has previously said he had calls with his US trade counterparts on Friday, Saturday and Monday as the two sides intensify talks after last week’s tensions.

US President Donald Trump threatened last Friday, but then postponed, to hit EU goods with a huge tariff, voicing frustration that talks with the EU were “going nowhere”.