EU Delays Counter Tariffs on US in Response to Trump’s 90-Day Pause on Import Duties

The European Union announced it will delay the implementation of its counter-tariffs against the United States by 90 days following President Donald Trump’s decision to postpone a 20% “reciprocal” tariff rate on nearly all EU exports, Bloomberg reports.

Trump’s administration previously imposed 25% duties on the bloc’s steel and aluminum exports last month, triggering the EU’s planned retaliation.

According to a European Commission spokesperson, the EU will proceed with implementing tariffs on approximately €21 billion ($23.2 billion) of US goods but will immediately suspend them upon taking effect. The decision mirrors Trump’s announcement earlier in the day, which saw the proposed 20% tariff rate reduced to 10% and delayed by 90 days.

The euro reacted positively to the news, extending its gains to rise 1.1% to $1.1068.

In addition to the steel and aluminum tariffs, the US has also imposed a 25% levy on EU cars and some auto parts. Trump has indicated further tariffs are under consideration on products such as lumber, semiconductor chips, and pharmaceutical products, potentially impacting approximately €380 billion of EU goods.

The EU’s planned countermeasures, which have the backing of all member states except Hungary, are designed to target politically sensitive American states. These include products such as soybeans from Louisiana, the home state of House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as diamonds, agricultural products, poultry, and motorcycles.

The EU has been carefully preparing a response to Trump’s trade policies. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has previously stated that the EU “holds a lot of cards,” including retaliatory tariffs and targeting American services and technology companies.

France, Germany, and other EU member states have urged the Commission to consider deploying the bloc’s anti-coercion instrument, the EU’s most powerful trade tool, which is designed to counter nations that use trade and economic measures coercively.

In parallel, the EU has adopted a strategy of waiting to allow the economic and financial consequences of Trump’s global tariffs to unfold, while also diversifying and expanding trade relations with like-minded nations worldwide.

Trump has repeatedly criticized the EU, the US’s largest trading partner, alleging it was formed to “screw” the US and that the bloc’s trade-in-goods surplus is evidence of an unfair relationship. According to data from the World Trade Organization, the EU’s trade-weighted average tariff rate was 2.7% in 2023.