European Leaders Hope for Last-Ditch Tariff Talks to Avert All-Out Trade War

European leaders have condemned Donald Trump's tariffs as "fundamentally wrong" and creating an "immense difficulty for Europe," while appealing for last-ditch negotiations to avert an all-out trade war.

- Jennifer Rankin Brussels Sam Jones Madrid

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said Trump's move was "brutal and unfounded," adding: "Future investments, investments announced in the last weeks, should be suspended for a time for as long as the situation with the United States is not clarified."

Suggesting measures against the US tech sector "where the United States benefits enormously from Europe," he said: "Nothing is excluded."

Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said Trump's "protectionist" tariffs ran "contrary to the interests of millions of citizens on this side of the Atlantic and in the US, who will unfortunately see their businesses and their purchase power" affected.

Germany's outgoing chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said Trump's decision was "an attack on a trade system that has created prosperity all round the world, itself an American achievement."

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said the EU was prepared to respond, but urged Trump to "move from confrontation to negotiation."