The European Union (EU) will continue to work on new tariffs against the US, but is freezing them for 90 days to “give negotiations a chance“. If the latter fail, the tariffs will be imposed.
“We have taken note of US President Donald Trump's statement. We want to give negotiations a chance. We continue to finalise our response measures, which have received strong support from EU countries, but we are freezing them for 90 days. "If the negotiations do not lead to a satisfactory result, tariffs will be imposed," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote in X.
She also confirmed that work on a second EU tariff package would also continue.
Meanwhile, European Commission representative Stefan De Keersmaeker acknowledged at a briefing in Brussels that the US had only frozen tariffs on most European goods, but tariffs on steel, aluminium and cars from Europe remained in place.
"We are taking a break and inviting the US side to the negotiating table to talk and reach a deal," De Keersmaeker said.