BRUSSELS (AP) \u2014 The European Union\u2019s executive commission said Thursday it will put trade retaliation measures on hold for 90 days to match President Donald Trump\u2019s pause on his sweeping new tariffs and leave room for a negotiated solution.<\/p>\n
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the commission, which handles trade for the bloc\u2019s 27 member countries, \u201ctook note of the announcement by President Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n
New tariffs on 20.9 billion euros ($23 billion) of US goods will be put on hold for 90 days because \u201cwe want to give negotiations a chance,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n
But she warned: \u201cIf negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump imposed a 20% levy on goods from the EU as part of his onslaught of tariffs of 10% and upward against global trading partners but said Wednesday he will pause them for 90 days to give countries a chance to negotiate solutions to U.S. trade concerns.<\/p>\n
Countries subject to the pause will face Trump\u2019s 10% baseline tariff. <\/p>\n
Before Trump\u2019s announcement, EU member countries voted to approve a set of retaliatory tariffs<\/a> on $23 billion in goods in response to his 25% tariffs<\/a> on imported steel and aluminum that took effect in March. The EU, the largest trading partner of the U.S., described them as \u201cunjustified and damaging.\u201d <\/p>\n The EU tariffs were set to go into effect in stages, some on April 15 and others on May 15 and Dec. 1. The EU commission didn\u2019t immediately provide a list of the goods. <\/p>\n Members of the EU \u2014 the world\u2019s largest trading bloc \u2014 have said they prefer a negotiated deal to resolve a trade war that damages the economies on both sides. The bloc\u2019s top trade official has shuttled between Brussels and Washington for weeks trying to head off a conflict. The EU has offered Trump a \u201czero for zero\u201d deal in which both sides would eliminate tariffs on industrial goods including autos. Trump has said that\u2019s not enough to answer U.S. concerns and raised the possibility of Europe buying large additional amounts of U.S. liquefied natural gas. <\/p>\n The targeted goods are a tiny fraction of the 1.6 trillion euros ($1.8 trillion) in U.S.-EU annual trade. Some 4.4 billion euros in goods and services crosses the Atlantic each day in what the European Commission calls \u201cthe most important commercial relationship in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n