EU readying ‘countermeasures’ if tariffs deal with US crumbles

BARCELONA Spain AP The European Union on Monday stated it is preparing countermeasures against the United States after the Trump administration s surprise tariffs on steel rattled global markets and complicated the ongoing wider tariff negotiations between Brussels and Washington EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and U S President Donald Trump agreed last week to accelerate talks on a deal but that if those agreement negotiations fail then we are also prepared to accelerate our work on the defensive side European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill reported a press conference in Brussels In the event that our negotiations do not lead to a balanced outcome the EU is prepared to impose countermeasures including in response to this latest tariff increase Gill commented He revealed the EU is finalizing an expanded list of countermeasures that would automatically take effect on July or earlier That s the date when a -day pause intended to ease negotiations ends in tariffs declared by the two economic powerhouses on each other About halfway through that grace period Trump communicated a tariffs on steel imports Trump s return to the White House has come with an unrivaled barrage of tariffs with levies threatened added and often taken away Top functionaries at the EU s executive commission says they re pushing hard for a contract deal to avoid a tariff on imported goods Negotiations will next continue on Wednesday in Paris in a meeting between the EU s top bargain negotiator Maro ef ovi and his counterpart U S Business Representative Jamieson Greer The EU could possibly buy more liquefied natural gas and defense items from the U S as well as lower duties on cars but it isn t likely to budge on calls to scrap the value added tax which is akin to a sales tax or open up the EU to American beef The EU has offered the U S a zero for zero outcome in which tariffs would be removed on both sides for industrial goods including autos Trump has dismissed that but EU agents have commented it s still on the table The announcement Friday of a staggering levy on steel imports stoked fear that big-ticket purchases from cars to washing machines to houses could see major price increases But those metals are also so ubiquitous in packaging that they re likely to pack a punch across consumer products from soup to nuts