EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomes Donald Trump's pause on reciprocal tariffs.
- It is an important step towards stabilizing the global economy, she writes on Thursday morning on the social media X.
Last week, US President Donald Trump announced extensive so-called reciprocal tariffs on a number of countries and areas, including a tariff of 20 percent on the EU. But on Wednesday he backtracked, which has caused stock markets around the world to rise. The Danish C25 index also skyrocketed this morning.
According to BBC and The Guardian, among others, the EU is covered by the 90-day tariff pause and is now instead hit by the so-called American basic tariff of ten percent. Steel and aluminum tariffs and car tariffs also continue to apply to the EU, writes the news agency AFP. Despite the many different trade announcements from the US, von der Leyen believes that "Europeans will emerge stronger from this crisis".
- Clear and predictable conditions are essential for trade and supply chains to function, she writes.
- Tariffs are taxes that only affect businesses and consumers. That is why we have consistently advocated for a zero-tariff EU-US tariff agreement. The EU continues to strive to have constructive negotiations with the US.
While Trump announced a pause in reciprocal tariffs for a number of countries on Wednesday, he increased tariffs on imports of Chinese goods to 125 percent. Trump's initial tariff announcements caused recession fears around the world to rise significantly, sending markets lower.
According to Reuters on Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed that the pause had been part of the plan all along. But Trump later suggested that the panic in the markets had played a role in his decision.
- You have to be flexible, he told reporters.
Donald Trump also said that he chose to keep the 90-day pause because "more than 75 countries" have reached out to the United States to negotiate a solution to the tariffs rather than retaliate against the increased American tariffs.
The calculations behind Trump's so-called reciprocal tariffs on a number of countries were heavily criticized by a number of economists for being simplistic and random.
jel /ritzau/
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