BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The European Union has announced that it will suspend the implementation of its trade countermeasures against the United States until early August to allow more time for a negotiated settlement to the issue.
In a letter sent to the European Commission Saturday, President Donald Trump said he would impose a 30 percent tariff on most goods imported from the European Union from August 1.
Responding to it at a news conference on Sunday, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said, 'We will therefore also extend the suspension of our countermeasures till early August. At the same time, we will continue to prepare further countermeasures so we are fully prepared.'
'We have always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution. This remains the case, and we will use the time that we have now till the 1st of August (to negotiate),' she told reporters in Brussels.
EU's retaliatory tariff on $25 billion worth of American goods for the 25 percent import duty that U.S. imposed on steel and aluminum imports from Europe was set to come into force Monday.
27-member European Union is the United States' largest trading partner. It is estimated that EU-US trade in 2024 amounted to nearly $976 billion.
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