EU threatens countermeasures over US tariffs, Trump says he is open to talks
Trump, meanwhile, said he was open to further discussions with EU and other trading partners before new 30% tariffs kick in next month and that EU officials would be coming to the US for negotiations.
"They would like to do a different kind of a deal and we're always open to talk, including to Europe," he told reporters in the Oval Office. "In fact, they're coming over. They'd like to talk." Trump stepped up his trade war on Saturday, saying he would impose a 30% tariff on most imports from the EU and Mexico next month, following similar warnings for other countries, including Japan and South Korea.
EU has so far held off on retaliatory measures to avoid a spiralling tit-for-tat escalation while there remains a chance of negotiating an improved outcome. But EU ministers emerging from a meeting in Brussels Monday appeared closer to striking back.
Speaking after the meeting, Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called the tariff threat "absolutely unacceptable". EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said he believed there was "still a potential to continue the negotiations" but voiced frustration with Washington's failure to agree to a deal with its largest trading partner.
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He added EU member states agreed the 27-nation bloc would need to take countermeasures if the trade negotiations fail.
Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani earlier said EU had already prepared a list of tariffs worth 21 billion euros ($24.5 billion) on US goods if they fail to reach a deal.
Meanwhile, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday she believed the two sides would reach a deal on security ahead of the Aug 1 deadline. White House has clarified the 30% tariffs on Mexico, would not apply to goods shipped under the USMCA trade agreement, which covers a vast majority of goods shipped from Mexico to the US. Sheinbaum said any agreement would not involve US forces entering Mexican territory, as previously floated by Trump.
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