The European Union fined Apple AAPL 2.39%increase; green up pointing triangle and Meta META 4.74%increase; green up pointing triangle Platforms hundreds of millions of dollars and ordered the companies to comply with the bloc’s tech rules in a move that risks ratcheting up tensions with the Trump administration as officials pursue trade talks. 

Donald Trump says end of Jerome Powell's term as Fed chair 'cannot come fast enough'

Donald Trump is awake. And he has strongly criticised monetary policy by the Federal Reserve, saying the end of Jerome Powell’s tenure as chair “cannot come fast enough”.

In a post on Truth Social, the social network he owns, Trump said that Powell had been too slow to cut interest rates – contrasting its hesistance because of perceived inflationary pressures with the European Central Bank (ECB).

The European Union will pause its first countermeasures against U.S. tariffs after President Donald Trump temporarily lowered the hefty duties he had just imposed on dozens of countries, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.

The bloc was due to launch counter-tariffs on about 21 billion euros ($23.25 billion) of U.S. imports from next Tuesday in response to Trump's 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium. It is still assessing how to respond to U.S. car tariffs and the broader 10% levies still in place.

The European Union on Wednesday voted to approve its first set of retaliatory measures to counter tariffs imposed by the U.S. on steel and aluminum.

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, said duties would start being collected on a first tranche of tariffs on U.S. imports from April 15, with a second set of measures following on May 15. 

The European Union on Wednesday announced the approval of retaliatory tariffs on $23 billion dollars in U.S. goods as "countermeasures" against President Donald Trump's tariffs.

"The EU considers US tariffs unjustified and damaging, causing economic harm to both sides, as well as the global economy," the European Commission said in a statement. "The EU has stated its clear preference to find negotiated outcomes with the US, which would be balanced and mutually beneficial."

Member states of the European Union (E.U.) have agreed to tariffs on a range of U.S. products in response to President Trump’s sweeping new import taxes.

EU states voted Wednesday to “introduce trade countermeasures” against the U.S., the European Commission said in a statement.

US President Donald Trump has pledged to impose more tariffs after his latest move to introduce import taxes on steel and aluminium entering the US prompted retaliation from the European Union (EU) and Canada.

Trump said that "of course" he would respond to the countermeasures, repeating his warning to reveal "reciprocal" tariffs next month on countries around the world.

"Whatever they charge us with, we're charging them," he said.

The European Union on Wednesday imposed “swift and proportionate” tariffs on U.S. goods after President Trump’s 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports went into effect.

The EU called the Trump-imposed tariffs unjustified and said it carefully calibrated its response. It will allow paused tariffs from Mr. Trump’s first term to go back into effect on April 1. It will also issue a new package of retaliatory tariffs by mid-April in response to Mr. Trump’s plan to impose new levies on EU goods.

European leaders on Thursday backed plans to spend more on defence and continue to stand by Ukraine in a world upended by Donald Trump's reversal of U.S. policies.

The European Union's defence summit in Brussels took place amid fears that Russia, emboldened by its war in Ukraine, may attack an EU country next and that Europe can no longer rely on the U.S. to come to its aid.

The European Union is expected to announce “concrete” measures on boosting defense financing this week, sources told CNBC, as Europe and the United States clash over support for Ukraine.