The European Union will delay planned retaliatory tariffs on US exports after Donald Trump threatened to impose a 30% levy from August.
The countermeasures, which were due to start on Tuesday, would have hit €21billion worth of US goods and were in response to the president's initial import taxes on steel and aluminium.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission told a press conference on Sunday that the break has been extended until early August.
Despite the delay, she said that Brussels was “fully prepared” to implement countermeasures after talks with Washington seemingly broke down over the weekend.
She said: "The United States has sent us a letter with measures that would come into effect unless there is a negotiated solution, so we will therefore also extend the suspension of our countermeasures until early August.
"At the same time, we will continue to prepare for the countermeasures so we're fully prepared."
FTSE 100
The UK's flagship share index, the FTSE 100, was down 29 points at 8,952 shortly after opening this morning.
Brent crude oil futures were up 0.44% at $67.75 a barrel.
Companies reporting today
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