The EU has agreed a 90-day pause on counter-measures against US tariffs, the president of the European Commission has said.

Ursula von der Leyen’s announcement after the bloc previously suggested counter-measures to be imposed on Tuesday.

China’s film administration said in a statement on Thursday it would “moderately” decrease the number of US films imported to the country, citing a reduced domestic appetite for US films due to tariffs on China.

Tariffgate might be on pause for now, but there’s still uncertainty ahead over whether it’s in 90 days’ time or sooner than that, given the incredible frequency with which he has changed tack so far.

The Independent’s business and money editor Karl Matchett outlines three reasons outside the stock market that Donald Trump ultimately had to backtrack – two of them which applied pressure – but the third, once again, was the real deciding factor at play:

The head of the French wine and spirits lobby group FEVS said Donald Trump’s decision to pause most tariffs was “half good news”.

Nicolas Ozanam told Reuters on Thursday that the move will initially enable companies to resume shipments at 10 per cent instead of 20 per cent, and therefore at the same level as all other suppliers.

“In a rather inflationary context, and with a sliding dollar, this will still lead to a rise in prices and therefore a drop in consumption in the United States,” he said.

Sir Keir Starmer said he would not “pretend that tariffs are good news” and that the government was not “just going to sit back and hope”, but would need to “rise to the moment”.

The prime minister said: “This government is ambitious for Britain … and I’m not going to stand here and pretend that tariffs are good news. That is not true, and you wouldn’t believe me if I said it, but just as we’ve seen recently on defence and security across Europe, and with Ukraine, they do make one thing very clear, and that is that the world is changing, and we as a country must change with it.

“In other words, we’ve got to rise to the moment here, recognise where our future lies, renew Britain and deliver security for working people, and that’s why we’ve taken the decision to accelerate our plans to create wealth in every community, and every community is really important here…

“We are not a government (that’s) just going to sit back and hope. I strongly believe that is how politics has failed our communities for so many years … what we’ve got to do, what we’re offering, is fundamental change.”

The EU has said it is considering pausing its countermeasures against US tariffs.

The EU diplomats said the countermeasures that were due to be implemented on 15 April could be paused for 90 days.

It comes after Donald Trump announced a 90-day freeze on his tariffs.

The Independent’s business and money editor Karl Matchett reports:

Why the sudden change of heart from Trump yesterday then?

Bonds. US government debt, bought in the form of 10-year US Treasuries, plunged in value yesterday (which sends the yield, or amount payable on them in interest, up).

That raises long-term costs to the US public and is an impossibility to beat, basically. In the words of one Yahoo Finance analyst, the stock “markets were the initial indication that all was not well…but when the bond market began to turn, the game was up”.

Despite their unhappiness with Washington, not all countries are interested in linking up with China, especially those with a history of disputes with Beijing.

“We speak for ourselves, and Australia’s position is that free and fair trade is a good thing,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters. “We engage with all countries, but we stand up for Australia’s national interest and we stand on our own two feet.”

China imposed a series of official and unofficial trade barriers against Australia in 2020 after the government angered Beijing by calling for an independent inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic.

India has also reportedly turned down a Chinese call for cooperation, and Russia, typically seen as China’s closest geopolitical partner, has been left out of the Trump tariffs altogether.

Taiwanese foreign minister Lin Chia-lung said on Wednesday that his government is preparing for talks on tariffs with the US.

The US imposed a 32 per cent tariff on imports from Taiwan, a close trading and security partner.

Taiwan produces most of the high-performing computer chips craved by the US and others and has long enjoyed a trade surplus with Washington.

Yet, south-east Asian nations such as Vietnam and Cambodia find themselves in a particular bind.

They benefited when factories moved to their countries from China because of rising costs.

They are being hit by punishing tariffs but have few buyers outside the US and are already operating on razor-thin margins.

China is reaching out to other nations as the US layers on more tariffs in what appears to be an attempt to form a united front to compel Washington to retreat.

Days into the effort, it is meeting only partial success with many countries unwilling to ally with the main target of President Donald Trump’s trade war.

China has thus far focused on Europe, with a phone call between Premier Li Qiang and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen “sending a positive message to the outside world”.

“China is willing to work with the EU to jointly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of China and the EU, strengthen communication and exchanges, and deepen China-EU trade, investment and industrial cooperation,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

That was followed by a video conference between Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao and EU commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic on Tuesday to discuss the US “reciprocal tariffs”.

Mr Wang has also spoken with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, while Mr Li, the premier, has met with business leaders.

China has “already made a full evaluation and is prepared to deal with all kinds of uncertainties, and will introduce incremental policies according to the needs of the situation”, Xinhua quoted Mr Li as saying.