EU Threatens Countermeasures Over US Tariffs If No Deal Struck

The European Union on July 14 accused the US of resisting efforts to strike a trade deal and warned of countermeasures if no agreement is reached to avoid the punishing tariffs President Donald Trump has threatened to impose from August 1.

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Mr. Trump, meanwhile, said he was open to further discussions with the EU and other trading partners before new 30 percent tariffs come into effect in August and that EU officials would be traveling to the US for negotiations.

"They would like to do a different kind of a deal, and we're always open to talk, including (with) Europe," he told reporters in the Oval Office. "In fact, they're coming over. They'd like to talk."

Mr. Trump stepped up his trade war on July 12, saying he would impose a 30 percent tariff on most imports from the EU and Mexico in August, following similar warnings for other countries, including Asian economic powerhouses Japan and South Korea.

The EU has so far held off on retaliatory measures to avoid a spiraling tit-for-tat escalation while there remains a chance of negotiating an improved outcome. But EU ministers emerging from a meeting in Brussels on July 14 appeared closer to striking back.

Speaking at a news conference following 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 potential to continue the negotiations" but voiced frustration with Washington's failure to agree to a deal with its largest trading partner.