BRUSSELS: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday Brussels will keep holding off on hitting back at US steel and aluminium tariffs, as it seeks a deal to ward off broader 30-percent levies.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday threw months of painstaking negotiations into disarray by announcing he would hammer the 27-nation bloc with sweeping 30-percent tariffs if no agreement is reached by August 1.
“The United States has sent us a letter with measures that would come into effect unless there is a negotiated solution, so we will therefore also extend the suspension of our countermeasures until early August,” von der Leyen told journalists.
“At the same time, we will continue to prepare for the countermeasures so we’re fully prepared,” she added.
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The European Commission president insisted that the EU has “always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution. This remains the case, and we will use the time that we have now till August 1.”
The EU’s current suspension of its retaliation over US steel and aluminium tariffs had been set to expire overnight Monday to Tuesday.
Brussels has 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 with the Trump administration.
“Since the very beginning, we have worked and now are ready to respond with counter measures. We’ve prepared for this, and we can respond with countermeasures if necessary,” von der Leyen said.
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