Following Trump’s suspension of additional tariffs, excluding China, for 90 days, the EU has announced a similar step.

President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, took to social media to share that after US President Donald Trump decided to halt additional tariffs for trade partners, except for China, for a 90-day period, the EU will follow suit.

Von der Leyen emphasized that they are taking Trump’s tariff remarks into consideration and want to give negotiations a chance. She stated, “We will complete the approval of EU retaliatory measures while suspending them for 90 days, having seen the strong support of member countries.”

“PREPARATIONS FOR FURTHER RETALIATION ARE UNDERWAY”

Von der Leyen mentioned that if negotiations do not yield satisfactory results, retaliation will come into play. She stated, “Preparations for further retaliation are ongoing. All options are on the table.”

President Trump announced in a post on TruthSocial yesterday that the tariff on goods of Chinese origin has immediately increased to 125%. In his statement, Trump used the phrase, “Hopefully, China will soon realize that the era of exploiting the US and other countries is no longer acceptable.” Noting that representatives of more than 75 countries have called to negotiate solutions on customs tariffs, Trump stated that he has suspended additional tariffs for these countries as a goodwill gesture for 90 days, during which the reciprocal tariff rate will be applied at a minimum of 10%.

“EU PREFERS TO ACHIEVE RESULTS THROUGH NEGOTIATIONS”

On the other hand, EU member countries decided to start implementing the initial retaliatory measures against the 25% tariff imposed by the USA on steel and aluminium starting next week on Wednesday, April 9th. The statement from the Commission mentioned that the measure was taken in response to the US decision to impose customs duties on steel and aluminium imports from the EU, stating that US tariffs are unjust and harmful, causing damage to both sides and the global economy. The statement indicated EU’s preference for achieving results through a balanced and mutually beneficial negotiation process with the USA, while mentioning that the retaliatory measures will be effective starting from April 15th.