The European Union announced on Thursday that it will suspend its planned countermeasures against US President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging tariffs for 90 days. This decision comes a day after Trump paused his own tariffs for a similar duration.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the announcement, stating that the EU is choosing to give negotiations a chance. “We took note of President Trump’s announcement. While finalising the adoption of the EU’s countermeasures, which had strong backing from our member states, we have decided to put them on hold for 90 days,” von der Leyen said in a statement posted on social media platform X.
The EU had initially announced tariffs targeting US imports worth €21 billion, including soybeans from Louisiana—the home state of US House Speaker Mike Johnson. These measures were intended as a response to the 25 percent tariffs the Trump administration imposed on European goods just a day earlier.
On Wednesday, a majority of the EU’s 27 member states voted in favor of the retaliatory measures, some of which were scheduled to take effect by mid-April.
However, President Trump unexpectedly stepped back from imposing tariffs on most countries for 90 days, while simultaneously increasing the tariff rate on Chinese imports to 125 percent.
Posting on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump stated: “I have authorized a 90-day pause and a substantially reduced reciprocal tariff of 10 percent during this period, effective immediately.”
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified that Trump’s administration would suspend the so-called ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on many of the country’s largest trade partners, while maintaining a 10 percent tariff on nearly all global imports. He added that the pause would apply to 75 nations currently in trade negotiations with the US, though he did not specify which countries were included.
