The retaliatory measures that the European Union had announced against the American tariffs have officially been put on hold on Monday until 14 July.
On 9 April, EU Member States were given the green light for retaliatory measures against the American levies on steel and aluminium. However, on the same day, US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day break for his increased reciprocal tariffs for countries that were prepared to negotiate.
The EU then decided to put its countermeasures on hold for three months to give the negotiations a chance. However, it was not possible to simply scrap the tariffs because an implementing decision had already been adopted that could no longer be cancelled.
The Commission was able to approve a new implementing decision in which the tariffs are paused immediately when they take effect. This happened on Monday.
Officially, the countermeasures have now been suspended until 14 July. The two decisions – the first to impose the countermeasures and the second to suspend them – were published on Monday in the Official Journal of the EU.
What happens after 14 July depends on the negotiations with the US. The Commission has already announced that it is continuing to work behind the scenes on new retaliatory measures, but is mainly hoping for a negotiated solution that will allow all tariffs to be suspended.
American tariffs on steel and aluminium, cars and car products still apply today, and the reciprocal "basic tariffs" of 10% are also still in force. European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is in the US to "explore the possibilities for a negotiated solution," the Commission said.
