The European Union suspended its retaliatory tariffs on US goods for 90 days, citing the bloc’s willingness to negotiate with US President Donald Trump.

Trump earlier announced a 90-day pause for higher-band tariffs and lowered reciprocal duties during the period, with the exception of China.

“We took note of the announcement by President Trump. We want to give negotiations a chance,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement on X.

She, however, warned that EU countermeasures will kick in “if negotiations are not satisfactory,” and that preparatory work on further countermeasures continues.

Meanwhile, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) lauded the European Commission’s decision – which meant EU will not impose reciprocal import tariffs on polished diamonds originating from the US.

The supposed tariffs on US diamonds were part of a broader package of EU countermeasures against Trump’s import duties. According to AWDC, European import tariffs would have significantly harmed Belgium’s diamond industry, without meaningfully impacting the US.

Karen Rentmeesters, CEO of AWDC, said, “It is common practice in our industry for diamonds to be shipped multiple times between Belgium and the US — for example, to obtain a grading report from one of the major diamond labs based there. Without this decision, those diamonds would have been subject to import tariffs not once, but twice: Upon entry into the US and again when returning to Europe.”

She added reciprocal import tariffs would have had “negligible” impact on the US from both a political and economic perspective.

“The US does not mine diamonds, and an additional import tariff would only make diamonds more expensive — a cost neither the customer nor the trader is willing to absorb. That would only further depress diamond demand, which is already at a historic low, with serious consequences for the entire diamond sector,” continued Rentmeesters.