The EU Makes a Tariffs Move of Its Own

The European Union's executive commission said Thursday it will put retaliatory tariffs on hold for 90 days to match President Trump's pause and leave room for a negotiated solution, per the AP. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the commission, which handles trade for the bloc's 27 member countries, "took note of the announcement by President Trump." New tariffs on $23 billion of US goods will be put on hold for 90 days because "we want to give negotiations a chance," she said in a statement. But she warned: "If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in."

Trump initially imposed a 20% levy on goods from the EU as part of his onslaught of tariffs of 10% and upward against global trading partners, but he announced a 90-day pause on Wednesday. Countries subject to the pause still face Trump's 10% baseline tariff. The EU tariffs were set to go into effect in stages, some on April 15 and others on May 15 and Dec. 1. The EU commission didn't immediately provide a list of the goods, but they are a tiny fraction of the $1.8 trillion in US-EU annual trade. The move hasn't had much of an effect on the US markets, where Dow futures were down about 500 points on Thursday morning, per CNBC.

(More tariffs stories.)