The EU – the United States' biggest trading partner – had been scheduled to impose "countermeasures" starting Monday at midnight in Brussels

Investors have so far behaved as if they’re counting on the U.S. president to back down, having seen previous U-turns from his administration.

President Donald Trump has posted two new letters on his social media platform announcing tariffs on the European Union and Mexico.

President Donald Trump posted letters to the leaders of Mexico and the European Union, saying they had not done enough to head off the new tariffs.

Major stock indexes were slightly lower on Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of tariffs on imports from Canada fanned worries about trade tensions, with the Canadian dollar down against the greenback.

President Trump said he plans to impose blanket levies of 15% to 20% on most trading partners that haven't yet received suggested tariff rates. That would be higher than the 10% baseline currently in effect.

It shows that personal grudges rather than simple economics are a driving force in the U.S. leader’s use of tariffs.

President Donald Trump posted several more letters on social media on Wednesday, setting tariff rates ranging from 20% for products from the Philippines to 30% for products from Algeria, Iraq, Sri Lanka,