The EU has suspended its retaliatory 25% tariffs on US goods for 90 days after Donald Trump’s dramatic climbdown in his trade war.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said the EU would put on hold for 90 days the countermeasures – 25% tariffs on €21bn (£18bn) of US goods – that it had agreed on Wednesday. “We want to give negotiations a chance,” she said. “If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in.”
In an earlier statement that did not mention the EU countermeasures, von der Leyen had welcomed the US president’s 90-day pause on his highest tariffs, as she reiterated that the EU was ready to negotiate a trade deal with the US.
The chaotic U-turn by the White House on Wednesday means that until July the EU will face a 10% duty on exports to the US, rather than the 20% “reciprocal tariff” rate that was in force for a matter of hours. Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel, aluminium and cars remain in place.
Von der Leyen said Trump’s announcement to pause the higher rates of tariffs he had imposed on many countries was “an important step towards stabilising the global economy”.
On Wednesday, EU member states voted almost unanimously to impose 25% tariffs on €21bn-worth of US agricultural and industrial products in retaliation for the steel and aluminium tariffs that Trump announced in February.
Those EU duties – weighted towards goods from Republican states in the US – will now only come into force if trade talks fail. The European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill, when asked why the EU had decided to freeze its retaliation even though Trump’s metals tariffs remained in place, said: “We are not going to take the further step right now because we want new space for negotiations. We want to talk to our American counterparts.”
The commission will also freeze proposals on further retaliation that had been expected to be published next week. “What has happened today is that in response to President Trump’s announcement, we have pushed the pause button, and until further notice, it is paused,” Gill said.
Trump seemed unaware on Wednesday of the EU’s initial retaliation, commenting that it was “bad timing” when asked about it by a reporter. The US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, told Trump that the measures were being phased in, saying: “They threatened, but they picked a later date, and our expectation is that it’s going to be later still.”
Trump replied: “I’m glad that they held back.”
Von der Leyen also reiterated the EU’s willingness to negotiate a tariff-free agreement covering cars and industrial goods, an offer she made publicly after Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk came out in favour of zero tariffs between Europe and the US last weekend.
Von der Leyen said: “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.”
Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, said Trump’s decision to pause planned tariff increases for most countries was a testament to EU unity.
Asked about Trump’s reversal in an interview with the German broadcaster RTL, Merz said the announcement was a “reaction to the determination of the Europeans”.
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, welcomed the US tariffs pause, describing it as “a door to negotiation and deals between countries”. But Sánchez, who is on a trade visit to south-east Asia, also described Trump’s decision to impose tariffs “on the whole world – including a terrifying 46% on Vietnam” as “an unjustified and unjust decision”.
As the prospect of possible negotiations loomed, Sánchez said Spain would always work for “a world of open doors”, adding: “Spain’s response is being coordinated with the EU in order to protect our exporters. Not a single business will be left exposed because of this measure.”
