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LAST UPDATE | 14 Apr
THE EU’S RETALIATORY tariffs on US goods worth €21 billion will be on hold until 14 July to give time for negotiations with Washington DC.
The European Union was hit with a 20% rate as part of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on 2 April, before he suspended the measures for 90 days a week later.However, Trump’s 10% rate is still in effect across the globe.
To give breathing room for negotiations, the EU in turn last week halted its countermeasures on previously enacted US tariffs on steel and aluminium, and on the auto sector, which remain in place.
The EU’s pause will “take legal effect” tomorrow, the European Commission said.EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic was in Washington DC today for talks with US counterparts in the hope of an agreement before the 90 days are over.
The EU is still preparing its response to the 20% levies, it said, although Brussels has made it clear it would prefer to avoid retaliation.
“The EU considers US tariffs unjustified and damaging, risking economic harm to both sides, as well as the global economy,” the commission said.
Speaking about the tariffs today, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he hopes the pharmaceutical and semiconductors manufacturing sectors will form part of negotiations between the European Union and the US.
The US has yet to announce plans to slap tariffs on the pharmaceutical sector, which is a particular concern for the Irish economy as it accounts for a significant amount of exports to the US.
Pharmaceuticals are currently exempt from the 20% tariffs but the US administration has previously said it would consider taxing such imports.
“There is an opportunity now for negotiation and I would hope, in that opportunity, that the sectoral issues in pharma and also in semiconductors would form part of that”, the Fianna Fáil leader added.
“In other words, that it would form part of the wider negotiation and the European Commission is also of that mindset, so that they would have a comprehensive settlement between the European Union and the United States.
“It is the largest trading relationship in the world, hugely impactful and it is important that we don’t end up in a situation where undue harm would be caused to people or indeed to the world economy or those specifics sectors.
“Medicine is key to life and tariffs will increase the costs and that’s the key point, both in America and around the world,” said Martin.
However, Tánaiste Simon Harris told RTÉ News today that it would be “inappropriate” for the US to hit the pharmaceutical sector with tariffs while it was at the same time negotiating with the EU on the trade relationship.
“It would be inappropriate if during that time, the United States was to take further action on a sectoral basis, including towards pharma.
“We’re either having good faith discussions or we’re not. And if we’re having good faith discussions, it means there should be a pause on any additional measures whilst those discussions take place,” he said.
Harris, who was in Luxembourg for a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers, told the media earlier today that it was his impression that the US was now interested in negotiating but warned that it would be “foolish” not to prepare for an environment in which tariffs persist.
The talk of trade between the EU and the US takes place against the backdrop of China leader Xi Jinping warning that protectionism “leads nowhere” and that a trade war would have “no winners”.
Xi will visit Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia in the coming days, in a bid to seek to tighten trade ties and offset the impact of tariffs unleashed by his US counterpart.
He said today he was looking forward to an “in-depth exchange of views” with Vietnamese leaders on issues concerning ties between the two parties and countries that have a global impact.
Beijing is trying to present itself as a stable alternative to an erratic Trump.
Each of the nations on his schedule has been hit hard by US tariffs; Vietnam’s exports to the US now face a 46% levy, Malaysia’s are at 24% and Cambodia’s are at 49%.
Xi earlier urged the two countries to “resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment”.
Vietnam’s top leader To Lam said in an article posted on the government’s news portal today that his country “is always ready to join hands with China to make cooperation between the two countries more substantive, profound, balanced and sustainable”.
With reporting by – © AFP 2025 and Christina Finn.
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