The EU announced the suspension on Tuesday of its retaliatory tariffs on US goods worth 93 billion euros ($107 billion) after Brussels struck a deal with Washington last month.
“The commission has today adopted the necessary legal procedures to suspend the implementation of our EU countermeasures, which were due to kick in on August 7,” EU trade spokesman Olof Gill said.
The European Commission, in charge of trade policy for the 27-country bloc, had prepared a list of US goods to target if talks with the United States failed to end in a deal.
The EU’s countermeasures were set to target a raft of US exports ranging from soybeans to planes, cars and whisky.
But commission president Ursula von der Leyen clinched a framework accord with President Donald Trump on July 27 as an August 1 deadline loomed for steep levies.
Following the deal, EU exports are now set to face across-the-board tariffs from August 8 of 15 per cent — higher than customs duties before Trump returned to the White House, but much lower than his threatened 30 percent.
A senior EU official said both sides were fleshing out the leaders’ agreement and hoped to provide more details “very, very soon”.
Brussels can, however, always unfreeze its retaliation should anything unexpected happen.
“We put it back into the freezer, and we can always take it out if needed, so we can always unsuspend the suspension,” the senior EU official said.
