EU To Halt Countermeasures Against Trump Tariffs For 90 Days

However, Ursula von der Leyen said the preparatory work on further countermeasures won’t stop.

The European Commission announced on Thursday that it would pause the first installment of its countermeasures against Trump's tariffs for 90 days, following the U.S. President’s sudden announcement on Wednesday that put levies on hold.

“We took note of the announcement by President Trump. We want to give negotiations a chance,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.

However, in the meantime, von der Leyen said the preparatory work on further countermeasures won’t stop – whether they will be implemented is a different matter.

“If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in,” she added.

This comes after EU announced on Wednesday that it would launch the first tranche of its countermeasures against Trump tariffs, starting next week. The bloc would have joined Canada and China in retaliating against the Trump administration’s plans.

According to a Reuters report, the 27-member group sought to impose these tariffs on several major agricultural products from the U.S., including rice, maize, wheat, barley, fruits, poultry, clothing, and motorcycles.

The bloc called Trump’s tariffs “unjustified and damaging,” noting that they would harm the global economy.

Von der Leyen also noted that “all options are on the table,” repeating what she had said earlier while offering “zero-for-zero” tariffs on industrial goods.

Amid rapidly changing tariff plans, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500, was down 2.5% in Thursday’s pre-market session.

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