The European Union is set to delay its retaliatory tariffs against the United States amid the ongoing trade war instigated by President Donald Trump.
Earlier this afternoon, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic confirmed the tax on steel and aluminium imports from the US until mid-April.
This decision is being carried out to allow a "firm proportionate" response, and for Sefcovic to "continue talks with American counterparts".
Under the proposed retaliatory tariffs against the US, the EU would charge levies of €26billion ($28billion; £22billion) worth of US goods, including boats, bourbon and motorbikes.
The EU is delaying its tariff threats on the US amid the Trump trade war
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These would have initially been introduced from April 1, but appear to be postponed as Trump threatens to hit the EU with 200 per cent tariffs on alcohol products.
He shared: "In all discussions, American counterparts highlight that they really feel the global trade system is unfair to them, that different bias accumulated over the year and over the years, and they want on April 2 to rebalance the system.
"The goal, as they stated, is that they want to have a fair trade system. They want to look at the barriers, tariffs, and they will be on the same level, and at the same time, they also want to tackle non tariff barriers."
During a two-hour hearing in the EU Parliament, Sefcovic heard pleas from right-wing MEPS calling on bloc to avoid a trade war with the Trump administration.
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Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium importsREUTERSGreen MEP Anna Cavazzini responded: "Trump started the trade war. It sounds a bit like the Commission is doing it. This is complete nonsense. The Commission tried to negotiate, of course we have to retaliate."
Sefcovic cited Trump's goal "to reindustrialise the US, to shorten the global supply chains to do this, onshoring to revive industry and the economy".
He emphasised the decision to delay the EU's tariffs is based on need to reassure the unity of member states, ensure any import taxes levied at legally watertight and and continue negotiations with the White House.
Furthermore, Sefcovic noted that cars, chips, timber, steel, aluminium and pharma are among the industries the US wants to "rebalance the relationship" with the EU on.
Maros Sefcovic made the comments at the EU Parliament
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David Morrison, a senior market analyst at Trade Nation, broke down the current anxiety among the business community as a result of Trump's fiscal policies.
Morrison shared: "There was a quiet start to trading on Thursday following last night’s Fed meeting. But there was a sudden ‘risk off’ move mid-morning which saw global stock indices slump, alongside gold, and a rush into the safe-haven of US Treasury bonds.
"The was no obvious trigger for the move. Perhaps it simply indicates skittishness amongst traders.
"There’s currently a high level of uncertainty prevalent amongst market participants due to all the complex geopolitical factors currently at play, together with the mercurial nature of the Trump administration.
"US stock indices were little-changed after the Federal Reserve announced its decision to keep interest rates on hold last night.
"They also failed to react much to the FOMC’s quarterly update to its Summary of Economic Projections in which members downgraded their growth outlook for this year to 1.7 per cent from 2.1 per cent, while raising their inflation forecast to 2.8 per cent from 2.5 per cent, as measured by Core PCE."
