The European Union Thursday paused its retaliatory tariff countermeasures against the United States for 90 days. European Commission Presdient Ursula von der Leyen said “We want to give negotiations a chance.” File photo by Olivier Matthys\/ EPA-EFE<\/p>\n
April 10 (UPI) — The European Union Thursday paused its retaliatory tariff countermeasures against the United States for 90 days to give negotiations a chance.<\/p>\n
“If negotiations are not satisfactory<\/a>, our countermeasures will kick in. Preparatory work on further countermeasures continues. As I have said before, all options remain on the table,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.\n<\/p>\n As the pause was announced she said the EU “took note” of the Trump administration’s 90-day tariffs pause.<\/p>\n “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,” von der Leyen added,\n<\/p>\n She said tariffs hurt businesses and consumers on both sides and reiterated a preference for the U.S. and EU to adopt zero tariffs between them.<\/p>\n Before the pause, the EU had approved tariff countermeasures on $23.3 billion dollars in U.S. goods including industrial and agricultural commodities.<\/p>\n The EU’s action came one day after President Donald Trump<\/a> backed down from most of the extreme tariffs he had imposed on allies and other nations in the face of crashing stock markets and a threatened bond market.\n<\/p>\n The huge shock to markets caused by Trump’s high tariffs was followed by one of the largest single-day gains in U.S. stock market history when the U.S. pause was announced.<\/p>\n The U.S. imposed 20% tariffs on the EU on top of 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum and cars Trump has targeted the EU with earlier.<\/p>\n All that was replaced with 10% tariffs<\/a> on most U.S. trading partners while tariffs on China were increased again to 125%.<\/p>\n