EU suspends for 90 days its countermeasures to US tariffs

The EU will suspend countermeasures in preparation for U.S. tariffs for 90 days to give "negotiations a chance," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Thursday.

"If negotiations are not satisfactory our countermeasures will come into force," the chairwoman of the EU's executive arm warned in a brief statement.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump, announced a "pause" in the implementation of the across-the-board tariffs he had decided to apply to dozens of countries, including those in the EU.

"We take note of President Trump's announcement. We want to give the negotiations a chance," Von der Leyen noted in his statement.

"At the same time as we finalize the adoption of the EU countermeasures, which on Wednesday had strong support from the bloc member states, we will suspend them for 90 days," she said.

"As I have said before, all options remain on the table," she warned.

Earlier in the day, Von der Leyen had welcomed Trump's decision on a "pause" in the implementation of tariffs, and considered the gesture an "important step to stabilize the global economy."

Earlier in the day, EU countries backed the first package of retaliatory US tariffs.

The EU has been hit by three rounds of U.S. tariffs, and is now seeking a difficult balance between finely calibrated retaliation and pushing for negotiations to break the escalating tensions.

In March, Trump announced tariffs of 25% on steel and aluminum imports, and then announced 25% on all foreign-made cars, measures that went into effect last week.

The third and final step was the announcement of 20% tariffs on EU goods among a whole host of other levies, which take effect this Wednesday.