Decision to Suspend Retaliatory Tariffs from the EU on the USA
After US President Trump suspended additional tariffs for all trade partners except China for 90 days, the EU has announced that they will take a similar step.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, shared on her social media account after US President Donald Trump announced the suspension of additional tariffs for trade partners, excluding China, for a period of 90 days.
Emphasizing that they take into account Trump’s statements on tariffs and want to give negotiations a chance, von der Leyen stated, “While completing the approval of the EU countermeasures that we have seen strong support from member countries, we will suspend them for 90 days.”
“PREPARATIONS FOR FURTHER COUNTERMEASURES ARE ONGOING”
Von der Leyen declared that if negotiations do not yield satisfactory results, countermeasures will come into effect, stating, “Preparations for further countermeasures are ongoing. All options are on the table.”
Yesterday, US President Trump announced via TruthSocial that he immediately increased the customs duty on products originating from China to 125 percent.
In his statement, Trump used the expression, “I hope China soon understands that the era of exploiting the US and other countries is no longer acceptable.” Asserting that representatives of more than 75 countries called to negotiate customs duties, Trump announced that he suspended additional tariffs for those countries that did not retaliate against the US for 90 days as a gesture of goodwill, applying a minimum reciprocal tariff rate of 10 percent during this period.
“EU PREFERS TO ACHIEVE RESULTS THROUGH NEGOTIATION”
Furthermore, the EU member countries decided to start implementing the initial retaliatory measures for the 25 percent tariffs imposed by the US on steel and aluminum as of next week. The statement from the Commission mentioned that the measure was taken in response to the US deciding to levy customs duties on steel and aluminum imports from the EU, pointing out that US customs duties are unjust and harmful, causing damage to both sides and the global economy. The statement indicated that the EU prefers to achieve results through a balanced and mutually beneficial negotiation process with the US, and the countermeasures will be effective from April 15th.
