EU pauses retaliation, braces for what's next

European Union officials announced Thursday that they would delay plans for retaliatory tariffs after President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to hit pause on some of the levies he had placed on Europe and much of the rest of the world.

- JEANNA SMIALEK

Trump’s announcement Wednesday fell far short of providing total relief to Europe. Higher tariffs are still in place for cars and key metals, and a delay is nota cancellation. Uncertainty is rampant, burdening consumers and companies across the Continent.

Still, the move did signal what European leaders were hoping for: a possible willingness to negotiate.

Washington’s pivot came just hours after European officials had approved retaliatory levies of 10% to 25% on about $23 billion of US imports. But given the US shift, EU leaders said Thursday they would take a 90-day pause of their own.

“If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in,” Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, announced in a statement. “Preparatory work on further countermeasures continues.”

The Trump administration is specif-ically pausing what it has called “reciprocal” tariffs — across-the-board taxes that apply in different amounts to different countries. Trump announced those levies on April 2, saying the EU would face a levy of 20%. With his about-face Wednesday, the bloc would most likely instead face a 10% across-the-board tariff for the next 90 days.