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The European Union has officially suspended its planned retaliatory tariffs on US goods for 90 days following President Trump’s decision to pause US tariffs on most countries.
Some shit you should know before you read: Two days ago, the European Union announced a package of retaliatory tariffs targeting roughly $23 billion worth of American exports, created in direct response to the United States duties on steel, aluminum, and other goods. The measures, backed by all 27 EU member states, were set to be implemented in phases, with the first tranche—valued at $4.3 billion—scheduled to take effect on April 15. This initial round would have targeted many US products, including soybeans, copper, iron, motorcycles, boats, and orange juice. Though the full list of targeted goods was not publicly finalized, draft documents revealed plans to expand the scope to sectors such as clothing, grains, poultry, and machinery in subsequent phases.
What’s going on now: In an announcement, the EU confirmed it would pause its planned retaliatory tariffs on US goods for 90 days, following President Trump’s decision to temporarily halt his broad “reciprocal tariffs” plan. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement, “We took note of the announcement by President Trump. We want to give negotiations a chance.” She emphasized that although the countermeasures had received strong backing from EU member states, “we will put them on hold for 90 days.”
Despite this, she made it clear that “if negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in.” The EU also confirmed that “preparatory work on further countermeasures” would continue if negotiations fail.
This comes as President Trump’s relations with the EU have been turbulent (to say the least). Recently, Trump criticized the EU, calling it “very unfair” to the United States and claiming that it was “created to screw us.” He’s taken particular aim at the EU’s value-added tax system, which he argues acts like a tariff on American goods, and he has cited a highly disputed figure of a 39% tariff rate imposed by the EU on US products. EU officials have dismissed these claims, pointing out that the average applied tariff rate between the two sides is around 1%.
Digging into EU/US Trade: Trade between the US and EU is massive, with total trade estimated at $975.9 billion in 2024. In 2023, the EU posted a $174 billion surplus in trade of goods with the United States, primarily driven by machinery, pharmaceuticals, and vehicle exports.
