TMTPOST -- The Europeans Union on Thursday decided to temporarily pause the implementation of its countermeasures for talks over possible trade deals after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the same pause on his sweeping reciprocal tariffs.
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Credit：Maros Sefcovic
“We took note of the announcement by President Trump. We want to give negotiations a chance. While finalising the adoption of the EU countermeasures that saw strong support from our Member States, we will put them on hold for 90 days, ” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement on Thursday.
Von der Leyen still cautioned U.S. higher tariffs on the EU. “If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in. Preparatory work on further countermeasures continues,” head of the EU executive branch said. “As I have said before, all options remain on the table.”
In a separate statement, von der Leyen said Trump’s pause on reciprocal tariff plan is an “important step towards stabilizing the global economy.” “Tariffs are taxes that only hurt businesses and consumers. That’s why I’ve consistently advocated for a zero-for-zero tariff agreement between the European Union and the United States,” she said.
Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s commissioner for trade and economic security, revealed later that day said he had a call with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer as the EU is set to suspend countermeasures and “enter meaningful negotiations.” He didn’t provide details about the upcoming negotiations like timetable and the EU’s possible offers.
Stéphane Séjourné, the Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy of the European Commission, still believed EU companies should remain cautious despite the tariff pause. “The only certainty is that instability will remain for the next four years,” he said in a post on X.
Trump at a cabinet meeting on Thursday said his administration treated the EU as one block. According to the president, the EU has been very tough but very smart since it decided to hold back on its retaliation after it heard about what the U.S. government did with China, which doubled down countermeasures.
The EU members on Wednesday have voted in favour of the European Commission's proposal to introduce trade countermeasures against tariffs on steel and aluminum imports imposed by the United States.The European Commission estimated a total of nearly €21 billion worth of goods imported from the U.S. will be affected. The countermeasures will be adopted in three tranches. Duties covering €3.9 billion of U.S. imports are set to start being collected on April 15, next Tuesday, followed by measures hitting €13.5 billion of U.S. goods from mid-May, and the final round of €3.5 billion will come on December 1.
Trump said later Wednesday in the post he has authorized a 90-day pause and “a substantially lowered reciprocal tariff” of 10% during this period, both effective immediately. The decision was made as more than 75 countries have called Greer and the relevant government agencies to negotiate a solution to trade, trade barriers, tariffs, currency manipulation, and non-monetary tariffs, and these countries have not retaliated against the U.S., Trump wrote.
The White House clarified that Trump’s announcement of a 90-day pause on tariffs means that the “tariff level will be brought down to a universal 10% tariff” during that time, while “negotiations are ongoing.”
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