When President Trump this weekend delayed 50 percent tariffs on the European Union by more than a month, officials on both sides of the Atlantic billed the move as an opportunity to kick-start discussions and reach a trade deal.

“Talks will begin rapidly,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social on Sunday night, after speaking by phone with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.

And Paula Pinho, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, said at a news conference on Monday that the discussion between the two leaders offered “a new impetus for the negotiations.”

But the path toward de-escalation remains fraught. The United States and the European Union still have different priorities, ones that could remain an obstacle to a rapid agreement. And it is not clear that either the demands or offers on the table have changed.

The goal is for the two sides to reach some solution before July 9, when the 50 percent levies are now set to take effect — delayed from the June 1 date Mr. Trump had set when he first announced them last week.

Discussions have already resumed. Maros Sefcovic, the E.U.’s trade commissioner, had a Monday evening phone call with Howard Lutnick, the U.S. commerce secretary. After they spoke, Mr. Sefcovic said in a post on X that the European Union “remains fully committed to constructive and focused efforts” toward a deal.

But the partners have been talking for some time without breakthroughs.

The question is “if we’re in a slow-motion train wreck situation, or if there is movement,” said Andrew Small, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund who was until recently working as an adviser to the European Commission. “I struggle to see what grounds there would be for changing tack on any of this.”

European negotiators have been hesitant to agree to many of Mr. Trump’s frequent demands. The administration has pushed for European nations to change their consumption tax system, for instance, which officials have made clear is not on the table. Trump negotiators also want Europe to roll back key digital regulations that affect social media and technology companies, which E.U. policymakers have said that they will not do.

For their part, European Union negotiators have been hoping to reduce across-the-board tariffs that took effect in April. But Trump administration officials have made clear that the current 10 percent is likely to be the new floor on tariffs.

And for now, E.U. policymakers seem ready to offer many of the same carrots and sticks that they have been trying for weeks.

Olof Gill, a European Commission spokesman, said Monday that the European Union is still suggesting that both sides could cut tariffs on industrial goods to zero — what is often called a “zero-for-zero” strategy.

“We believe that’s a very attractive starting point for a good negotiation,” Mr. Gill said. “We will certainly be making that case forcefully, starting in the call between Commissioner Sefcovic and Secretary Lutnick.”

Mr. Gill also suggested that the European Union is pressing forward with refining lists of retaliatory tariffs, levies that European nations could slap on American imports like machinery, soybeans and bourbon.

“We’re talking to industry and other stakeholders,” Mr. Gill said, explaining that while the bloc is “very focused” on making negotiations work, they are also doing preparatory work in case they do not.

The European Union has unveiled two lists of goods that it could hit with tariffs if negotiations fail: One set worth about $23 billion, and another of about $107 billion that is still being finalized.

Mr. Trump announced in April that he would slap high across-the-board tariffs on many American trading partners, including 20 percent levies on the European Union. He then delayed those tariffs for 90 days, instead putting the 10 percent across-the-board tariff into place.

Britain and China have managed to strike deals to avert the worst American tariff threats, but progress has been slower for the European Union. And while Britain’s deal offered it some benefits — like a reduction in auto tariffs — it left the 10 percent tariff intact.

When it comes to the European Union, one source of enduring frustration for Mr. Trump is that the bloc sells American consumers more goods than it buys from U.S. companies.

Bernd Lange, who heads the committee for international trade in the European Parliament, told the German public television ZDF on Monday that European negotiators were hoping that offers to reduce the trade deficit by agreeing to buy more American liquefied natural gas and advanced microchips would help to convince U.S. officials to strike a deal.

But even with those measures, getting rid of the trade gap totally is unlikely. Mr. Lange added that he did not “believe that we will be able to reduce everything to zero.”