The United States may be preparing to introduce additional tariffs on European Union goods in spite of the current 90-day suspension, according to European Commissioner for Trade Maroš Šefčovič.

At the European Parliament plenary session, Mr Šefčovič noted that the U.S. had recently reduced its additional tariffs from 20 per cent to 10 per cent.

In response, the EU paused its countermeasures on steel and aluminium for 90 days to allow room for negotiations.

“This pause was meant to create space for dialogue. However, U.S. tariffs still affect €380 billion, $431 billion worth of EU exports, around 70 per cent of our total exports, at rates ranging from 10 per cent to 25 per cent,” Mr Šefčovič said.

He also warned that new U.S. tariff measures could still be on the horizon, despite Washington acknowledging that the EU was not a threat and that both sides faced many common challenges.

On April 2, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order introducing reciprocal tariffs on imports from various countries.

The base tariff was set at 10 per cent, with higher rates applied to 57 countries based on the U.S. trade deficit with each.

A week later, Mr Trump announced that the 10 per cent baseline tariff would apply for 90 days to more than 75 countries that had not retaliated and had requested negotiations, excluding China.

(RIA/NAN)