EU agrees on 90-day pause in countermeasures against US tariffs

ISTANBUL

The EU agreed on Thursday to suspend for 90 days the countermeasures it had planned to impose next week in response to US tariffs, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a pause and in a bid to allow negotiations to go forward.

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

Von der Leyen confirmed that while the EU had finalized the adoption of its retaliatory measures with "strong support" from member states, their implementation would be put on hold for three months.

"If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in," she warned, adding that the commission is continuing preparatory work on further possible actions.

"As I have said before, all options remain on the table," von der Leyen stated.

On Wednesday, Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for many countries around the world. However, China has been excluded from the pause, and instead, the tariff rate has been increased to 125%. Stock markets soared after investors heard about the global reprieve.