EU pauses tariffs against US for 90 days
The European Union said it was pausing new tariffs against the US for 90 days, opening the door for talks with US President with Donald Trump.
The move followed Trump's decision last night to pause tariffs on countries who had not retaliated against his initial raft trade levies for 90 days while reducing them to 10%.
"We took note of the announcement by President Trump. We want to give negotiations a chance," said European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
"While finalising the adoption of the EU countermeasures that saw strong support from our Member States, we will put them on hold for 90 days."
"If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in. Preparatory work on further countermeasures continues. As I have said before, all options remain on the table."
The 27-nation bloc on Wednesday agreed to impose retaliatory tariffs on €21bn of US goods, targeting farm produce and products from states held by Trump's Republican party with the first duties to collected from April 15.
At the time it said US tariffs were "unjustified and damaging, causing economic harm to both sides, as well as the global economy".
"These countermeasures can be suspended at any time, should the US agree to a fair and balanced negotiated outcome."
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com
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