The EU Executive Committee said on Thursday it would put aside 90-day retaliation measures to match President Donald Trump's pause in new tariffs on global trading partners and provide room for solutions.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the commission handling trade in the group's 27 member states “noted President Trump's announcement.”
“We want to give negotiations a chance because “we want to give negotiations a chance” will suspend new tariffs of 20.9 billion euros ($23 billion).
But she warned: “If the negotiations are not satisfied, our countermeasures will begin.”
Trump imposed a 20% levy on EU goods, part of his tariffs on global trading partners and boosted them, but said on Wednesday that he would suspend 90 days to give countries the opportunity to negotiate solutions to U.S. trade issues.
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Countries that are suspended will face 10% of Trump's benchmark tariffs.
The announcement comes after EU member states voted in favor of a series of retaliatory tariffs on $23 billion of goods in response to the 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum that went into effect in March. The EU is the largest trading partner of the United States, calling them “unreasonable and destructive.”
EU tariffs are scheduled to take effect on April 15, while others will take effect on May 15 and December 1. The European Commission did not immediately provide a list of goods.
Members of the EU – the world's largest trading group – said they prefer negotiating agreements to resolve a trade war that hurts both economies. The group's top trade officials have been traveling between Brussels and Washington for weeks, trying to get out of the conflict.
The target goods are a small part of the 1.6 trillion euros ($1.8 trillion) of annual U.S. EU trade. About 4.4 billion euros of goods and services are crossing the Atlantic Ocean every day, which the European Commission calls “the most important business relationship in the world.”
The EU is targeting smaller commodity lists in an effort to exert political pressure and avoid economic damage caused by wider Tit-for-Tat tariff escalations.
The EU is also processing a range of countermeasures to deal with Trump's 20% tariff on all European goods, which has now been suspended. This may include measures targeting U.S. technology companies and services, as well as trade in merchandise.
Von der Leyen said Europe intends to diversify its trade partnerships.
She said the EU will continue to “interact with countries that make up 87% of global trade and share our commitment to free and open exchange of goods, services and ideas” and remove barriers to business in its own single market.
“Europeans will be stronger from this crisis together,” Von der Leyen said.
McHugh (MCHUGH) reports on Frankfurt, Germany
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