EU ministers weigh response to latest Trump tariff threat

EU ministers on Monday will debate the bloc's approach to trade talks with the United States, as Brussels scrambles to head off 30-percent tariffs threatened by President Donald Trump.

The US leader Trump threw months of painstaking negotiations into disarray on Saturday by announcing he would hammer the bloc with sweeping 30-percent tariffs if no agreement is reached by August 1.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has insisted the EU still wants to reach an accord -- and on Sunday delayed retaliation over separate US tariffs on steel and aluminium as a sign of goodwill.

"We have always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution," the president of the commission, which handles trade issues on behalf of the EU's 27 countries, said.

This remains the case, and we will use the time that we have now till August 1."

The move by von der Leyen spurs hope that Trump's latest threat -- in which he also targeted Mexico -- has not killed off the progress made in negotiations that have taken place so far between Brussels and Washington.

But EU officials insist the bloc remains clear-eyed on the challenges of dealing with the unpredictable US leader, and ready to hit back.

Diplomats said that an additional package of reprisal measures will be presented to trade ministers at their meeting in Brussels on Monday that could be rolled out if Trump imposes the 30-percent tariffs.

The EU threatened in May to slap tariffs on US goods worth around 100 billion euros ($117 billion), including cars and planes, if talks fail to yield an agreement -- although one diplomat said the finalised list was expected to be worth 72 billion euros.

'Defend European interests'

EU nations -- some of which export far more to the United States than others -- have sought to stay on the same page over how strong a line to take with Washington in order to get a deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday urged von der Leyen's commission to "resolutely defend European interests" and said the EU should step up preparation for countermeasures.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz agreed and said he had spoken to Macron, Trump and von der Leyen in the past few days and would "engage intensively" to try to find a solution.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned Sunday that a "trade war within the West" would weaken everyone.

The EU's suspension of its retaliation over US steel and aluminium tariffs had been set to expire overnight Monday to Tuesday.

Brussels readied duties on US goods worth around 21 billion euros in response to the levies Trump slapped on metal imports earlier this year.

But it announced in April it was holding off on those measures to give space to find a broader trade agreement.

Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has unleashed sweeping stop-start tariffs on allies and competitors alike, roiling financial markets and raising fears of a global economic downturn.

But his administration is coming under pressure to secure deals with trading partners after promising a flurry of agreements.

So far, US officials have only unveiled two pacts, with Britain and Vietnam, alongside temporarily lower tit-for-tat duties with China.

The EU, alongside dozens of other economies, had been set to see its US tariff level increase from a baseline of 10 percent on Wednesday, but Trump pushed back the deadline to August 1.

In a letter published on Saturday, Trump cited the US's trade imbalance with the bloc as justification for the new 30-percent levies.

The EU tariff is markedly steeper than the 20 percent levy Trump unveiled in April -- but paused initially until mid-July.

Source: AFP