The president’s threats to slap duties on goods imported from the European Union are part of a pattern of directing the harshest penalties at the United States’ closest allies.

Some of the purported concessions that led to a 30-day pause on the tariffs were things Canada and Mexico had already done before Trump’s threat, but it’s complicated.

The European Union wants to engage swiftly with the United States over President Donald Trump's planned tariffs, trade chief Maros Sefcovic said on Tuesday, while his boss Ursula von der Leyen stressed the bloc would protect its interests in negotiations.