EU to pause retaliatory tariffs on US

The European Union said it will press the pause button on its retaliatory tariffs against the United States just a day after the bloc's member states agreed on the first countermeasures against the US trade war and hours after US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day suspension of "reciprocal tariffs" on most for its trading partners.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday that the commission took note of Trump's announcement.

"We want to give negotiations a chance. While finalizing the adoption of the EU countermeasures that saw strong support from our member states, we will put them on hold for 90 days," she said on X. "If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in."

She expressed that preparatory work on further countermeasures continues, reiterating "all options remain on the table".

EU member states approved tariffs between 10-25 percent on a range of US imports such as almonds, orange juice, poultry, soybeans, steel and aluminum, tobacco and yachts — the bloc's countermeasures against the 25 percent tariffs placed by the US on steel and aluminum imports from the EU.The tariffs were initially set to be rolled out in phases starting April 15, hitting a total of 21 billion euros ($23 billion) of US products, but are now paused.

Hungary was the only one among 27 member states to vote against the retaliation. France, Italy and the Republic of Ireland have successfully lobbied to remove Kentucky bourbon whiskey from the hit list after Trump threatened that the US would impose a 200 percent tariff on wines and spirits from the EU if it is on the list.

Observers noted that the list targets many Republican states in the US to inflict pain on Trump's political base.

"The EU considers US tariffs unjustified and damaging, causing economic harm to both sides, as well as the global economy," the European Commission said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Clear, predictable conditions are essential for trade and supply chains to function. Tariffs are taxes that only hurt businesses and consumers," von der Leyen said in another post on X on Thursday.

'Wrong signal'

At the Thursday daily news briefing, European Commission spokesmen refused to answer when asked why the EU is pausing the countermeasures when the US has not paused its steel and aluminum tariffs, and whether the EU has been sending a wrong signal to Trump, who has been destroying the global trading system.

Ding Chun, director of the Center for European Studies at Fudan University, said although the EU wants a negotiated settlement, it has also realized that retaliation measures are necessary to force the US to come to the negotiation table.

"Europeans realize that if they show weakness to Trump, he will tighten up more," Ding said.

Ding said the EU has many tools, including the Anti-Coercion Instrument, or ACI, known as the trade "bazooka" or nuclear option, to hit back against US tech giants since the US has a trade surplus with the EU in services.

Barry Andrews, a member of the European Parliament from Ireland, said it is difficult to figure out what the intentions are and who is making decisions in the US right now.

"We don't know if this is an overall attempt to overturn the international rules-based order, or something more short-term, more transactional," he posted on X on Wednesday.

Andrews noted that the EU has built many trade defense measures including the ACI to deal with the current situation. He added that the bloc should also look to diversify its trade.

"What has happened in the last two months is a huge challenge to (the) Irish economy," he said.