The European Union has paused its new tariffs against the US for 90 days, to allow time for negotiations with President Donald Trump.
This follows Trump’s decision to cut the tariffs on countries who hadn’t retaliated against his first wave of trade levies, to 10%.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said in a social media post, “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.”
Ursula von der Leyen
Nonetheless, she noted that if negotiations are not satisfactory, EU countermeasures will kick in.
“Preparatory work on further countermeasures continues. As I have said before, all options remain on the table.”
Ursula von der Leyen
Over in Brussels, EU spokesperson Olof Gill, iterated von der Leyen’s statement, telling reporters, “We want to negotiate, we want to talk.”
“We are not going to offer any greater detail at this point about what we are not saying to the Americans beyond what we have already said…
“We appreciate that you have brought this pause on so called reciprocal tariffs, and we, in turn, are now pausing our proposed countermeasures in order that we have the maximum space to consult with our member states, consult with our industry and negotiate with the US. We’re ready to make deals.”
Olof Gill
Gill was quizzed about why the EU has paused its countermeasures.To this, Gill remarked, “We have postponed what we had planned for next week.”
“What happened yesterday was that member states gave us a mandate to go forward with it. That’s not, that doesn’t mean it has automatically happened. They’ve simply given us a mandate to do it.
“So our intention was to publish the legal act that would allow the tariffs to click in next week and we have now paused that.”
Olof Gill
Gill had a slightly trickier time explaining why the EU has paused its countermeasures, even though they were imposed in response to the first round of US tariffs on steel and aluminium, which actually remain in place, and not the “reciprocal” tariffs that were paused by Trump last night.
“The answer is quite clear. We’ve pressed the pause button to allow space for negotiations. So yes, the US, steel and aluminium tariffs are now in place, not just against us, but against the entire world. And yes, the car tariffs are in place.
“But we are not going to take any further steps right now, because we want to leave space for negotiation. We want to talk to our American counterparts.”
Olof Gill
Gill Confirms Call Between Šefčovič And Lutnick
Moreover, EU Spokesperson Olof Gill confirmed that EU Trade Commissioner, Maros Šefčovič spoke with US Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick “a couple of nights ago, where they just kind of took stock of where things stood.” He added, “that was before the [pause] announcement by President Trump.”
He added that it was “a kind of, a touching base call, just for both sides to provide a state of play.”
“I don’t believe that any mention of the American pause was coming in that call, but then I doubt that the interlocutor was aware that it was coming. I could be wrong about that, but that just my own reflection.”
Olof Gill
Despite the tariff reprieve, some central bankers and analysts remain cautious.
READ ALSO: Forestry Commission Must Go Commercial to Boost Self-Sufficiency – Lands Minister
