By Victoria Friedman
Contributing Writer
The European Union will suspend its two packages of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs for six months, am EU spokesman said on Monday.
Olof Gill, the commission spokesman for trade, said in an emailed statement that the bloc “continues to work with the U.S. to finalize a joint statement, as agreed on 27 July.”
“With these objectives in mind, the commission will take the necessary steps to suspend by six months the EU’s countermeasures against the U.S., which were due to enter into force on 7 August,” Gill added.
On July 27, after months of negotiation, President Donald Trump announced he had agreed on a trade deal with the EU.
The 27-member bloc will buy $750 billion worth of energy from the United States, and tariffs on EU imports, including for automobiles, will be set to 15%.
Other preliminary details of the trade deal with Brussels include a $600 billion investment by the EU in the United States, on top of its current investments.
The commission’s trade spokesman said that the agreement between Brussels and Washington “restores stability and predictability for citizens and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.”
“It secures continued access for EU exports to the U.S. market, preserves deeply integrated transatlantic value chains, effectively safeguards millions of jobs, and provides the basis for continued strategic cooperation between the EU and U.S.,” Gill said.
Formal adoption of the measures by the commission is expected to take place on Tuesday.
Deal Made by Deadline
The tariffs were set to take effect by Aug. 7 if no deal had been reached with the United States. The EU countermeasures would have amounted to $109 billion worth of American goods, including cars, pharmaceuticals, soybeans and almonds.
The U.S.-EU trade deal was struck days before the Aug. 1 deadline, after which nearly all EU imports would have faced 30% tariffs.
Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met in Scotland on July 27 during the U.S. president’s trip to the UK.
When asked whether she considered 15% a good deal for European automakers, von der Leyen told reporters, “15% is not to be underestimated, but it is the best we could get.”
Separately, through a statement published by the European Commission, von der Leyen said: “I want to thank President Trump personally for his personal commitment and his leadership to achieve this breakthrough. He is a tough negotiator, but he is also a dealmaker.”
In the days that followed the agreement, senior figures in the bloc reacted with a combination of relief and criticism of the new trade deal.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on July 27 that he welcomed the deal and that the two trading partners would now avoid an “unnecessary escalation in transatlantic trade relations.”
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever similarly expressed relief, but said it was not a moment for celebration. He added that he hoped the United States would “turn away again from the delusion of protectionism and once again embrace the value of free trade — a cornerstone of shared prosperity.”
The United States had a total goods trade deficit with the EU of $235.6 billion last year, a 12.9% increase over 2023, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
The U.S.-EU trade deal is one of several tentative trade agreements that the Trump administration has struck in recent months.
Other deals have been agreed with partners including China, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines and the UK.
