EU’s pause of countermeasures to Trump tariffs takes effect
The pause of the European Union’s countermeasures to the tariffs threatened by US President Trump takes effect on April 15 and remains in place until July 14 2025, according to a statement by the European Commission (EC).
The EC said that the EU has paused its countermeasures on unjustified US trade tariffs “to allow time and space for EU-US negotiations”.
The pause was first announced by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week. Trump paused his “reciprocal” tariffs on April 9, while leaving those on China in place.
The EU decision – which puts on hold for up to 90 days the bloc’s planned countermeasures against US tariffs on EU steel and aluminium imports – was made in response to the US delaying by 90 days its so-called reciprocal tariffs, the EC said.
In total, the suspended EU countermeasures cover 21 billion euro of US exports.
As part of the EU’s push to find a negotiated outcome with the US, EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič was in Washington DC on April 14 to hold meetings with his US counterparts in order to explore the ground for a negotiated solution.
The EC said that as Von der Leyen made clear in her statement, the EU wants “to give negotiations a chance,” but should talks not prove satisfactory, the EU countermeasures will kick in.
In addition to these now-suspended countermeasures against US tariffs on steel and aluminium, preparatory work on further EU countermeasures continues.
The EU considers US tariffs unjustified and damaging, risking economic harm to both sides, as well as the global economy, the EC said.
The EC adopted two legal acts on April 14 which, respectively, impose and suspend its countermeasures. The first act imposes the EU countermeasures. The second act suspends all such measures until July 14.
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