Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Marosh Sevchovich, a member of the European Commission's commissioner for trade and economic security, said on the 7th that the EU is ready to use "all trade defense means" to deal with the impact of US tariffs and will implement the first round of counter-tariffs against the US from April 15th.

  Global stock markets repeated "Black Monday" on the 7th due to investors' concerns that the so-called "reciprocal tariffs" in the United States have exacerbated the risk of global economic recession. US President Trump said on the same day that he would not suspend the so-called "reciprocal tariff" policy.

  The EU starts its first round of countermeasures on the 15th

  The European Foreign Affairs Commission held a ministerial meeting in Luxembourg on the 7th, aiming to unify the position of member states and formulate strategies for the next stage of trade consultations with the United States. After the meeting, Sevchovic announced that the EU will implement the first round of counter-tariffs against the United States from April 15 and the second round will be implemented from May 15.

  On February 19, Maroche Sevchovich, the European Commission's commissioner for trade and economic security, delivered a speech in Washington, the capital of the United States. Xinhua News Agency/Fast News

  Shefjovic said that the EU still hopes to promote the US to cancel tariffs through dialogue and negotiations, but if negotiations with the US fail to make progress on tariff issues, the EU will use all means to counter the US. “We are ready to use all the means in our trade defense toolbox to protect the interests of the EU single market, EU producers and consumers.”

  According to multiple media reports, the European Commission proposed to member states later that day to impose a 25% tariff on some U.S. products in response to US steel and aluminum tariff measures. Among them, tariff measures on soybeans and a variety of nut products will be implemented from December 1. Internal EU documents show that the tariffs are widely available, including diamonds, eggs, floss, sausages and poultry meat. EU member states will vote on the proposal on the 9th.

  Peter Navarro, senior adviser to trade and manufacturing, said on the 7th that if the EU wants to reach an agreement with the United States to reduce tariffs, it must reduce its non-tariff barriers, including those brought by the value-added tax system. In response to reporters' questions, Sevchovic made it clear that VAT is an important source of income for EU member states and the EU will not change the current VAT system.

  Global stock markets encounter "Black Monday"

  Global stock markets repeated "Black Monday" on the 7th due to investors' concerns that the so-called "reciprocal tariffs" in the United States have exacerbated the risk of global economic recession. In the Asia-Pacific market, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and other stock indexes experienced the largest single-day decline that had not been seen in many years. The South Korean stock market once launched a "temporary suspension" measure to suspend programmatic trading.

  On April 7, pedestrians passed by an electronic stock index display in Tokyo, Japan. Xinhua News Agency/Fast News

  The three major European stock indexes fell across the board on the same day. The 100 stock average price index of the Financial Times in London Stock Exchange closed at 7702.08 points on the 7th, a drop of 4.38%; the CAC40 index of the Paris Stock Market in France closed at 6927.12 points, a drop of 4.78%; the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Market in Germany closed at 19789.62 points, a drop of 4.13%.

  The US S&P 500 stock index fell into the bear market in the early trading on the 7th, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell nearly 4% after opening. However, during the session, there were reports that White House National Economic Commission director Kevin Hassett said Trump is considering suspending 90-day tariffs, triggering a strong rebound in the three major U.S. stock market indexes. The Nasdaq rebounded from a drop of 5% to a rise of 4.3%, with a fluctuation of more than 9 percentage points.

  White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said this was "fake news", and the three major indexes once again turned from rising to falling. As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 37,965.60 points, a drop of 0.91%; the S&P index closed at 5,062.25 points, a drop of 0.23%, both of which fell for the third day in a row. The Nasdaq closed at 15603.26 points, up 0.10%, ending its plunge for two consecutive trading days.

  Trump says no consideration for suspension

  Trump told the media after meeting with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the White House on the 7th that he has no consideration to suspend tariff policies and leaders of many economies are seeking to negotiate with him. He believes that forcibly implementing tariff policies and conducting negotiations are not contradictory.

  Trump also said that he rejected the EU's proposal to exempt tariffs from the United States earlier that day, "No, this is not enough" and "they deceived us on trade issues."

  US government officials said on the 7th that more than 50 economies are currently in contact with the United States on tariff policies. But according to the US current affairs news website AXIOS, citing people familiar with the matter, these so-called contacts are actually "lack of real negotiation architecture or two-way collaboration" and are "disgusting."

  On April 2, Trump signed an executive order on so-called "reciprocal tariffs" at the White House, announcing that the United States imposed a 10% "minimum benchmark tariff" on trading partners and imposed higher tariffs on some trading partners. (Reporters: Ding Yinghua, Zhang Zhaoqing, Zhao Xiaona, Huang Heng)

[Editor in charge: Wang Di]