EU will put tariff retaliation on hold for 90 days to match Trump’s pause

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said ‘we want to give negotiations a chance’.

By contributor Associated Press Reporter
Published
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen addresses journalists during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said ‘we want to give negotiations a chance’ (Virginia Mayo/AP)

The European Union’s executive commission has said it will put its retaliation measures against new US tariffs on hold for 90 days to match President Donald Trump’s pause on his sweeping new tariffs and leave room for a negotiated solution.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the commission, which handles trade for the 27 member countries, “took note of the announcement by President Trump”.

New tariffs on 20.9 billion euros (£17.9 billion) of US goods will be put on hold for 90 days because “we want to give negotiations a chance”, she said in a statement.

But Ms von der Leyen warned: “If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in.”

Mr Trump imposed a 20% levy on goods from the EU as part of his onslaught of tariffs against global trading partners but has said he will pause them for 90 days to give countries a chance to negotiate solutions to US trade concerns.