EU suspends countermeasures against US - Decision faces criticism from European officials
The European Union (EU) will suspend two packages of planned countermeasures against United States tariffs for six months, following an agreement with the US, a European Commission spokesman said.
The spokesperson said the EU will continue to work with the US to implement the tariff agreement reached on July 27. To achieve this goal, the European Commission will take the necessary measures to suspend retaliatory tariffs against the US, initially scheduled to enter into force this Thursday, for a period of six months.
The suspended retaliatory tariffs include a response to US measures on European steel and aluminium exports, as well as a reaction to proposed basic duties and taxes on vehicles.
A former senior European Union official for foreign affairs and security policy said the tariff deal reached between the European Commission and the United States is extremely bad from a political perspective. He noted that the pact sends a signal that the EU is weak and is bowing to pressure from Trump, further damaging the 27-member bloc's international image as a strategically independent actor.
Some politicians have described the tariff agreement as a direct manifestation of the strategic failure of the current European Commission and have stressed that the additional commitments set out in the agreement are simply impossible to fulfill.
On July 24, EU member states overwhelmingly approved a decision to impose retaliatory tariffs on US products worth 93 billion euros.
In April, the bloc secured approval from member states for the first round of retaliatory tariffs totaling about 21 billion euros, targeting soybeans, motorcycles, jeans and other American goods. On July 23, member states approved a second list, worth about 72 billion euros. This mainly targeted high-value industrial products, such as aircraft, automobiles and electrical equipment.
Previously, the EU and several European leaders had stated that if a satisfactory trade deal was not reached with the US before the date the US tariffs came into effect, the bloc would take countermeasures.
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