EU chief offers US 'zero-for-zero' pact

Luxembourg: The European Union said connected Monday it would commencement collecting retaliatory duties connected immoderate imported US goods adjacent week, arsenic EU commercialized ministers agreed they preferred negotiations to region tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump implicit retaliation.

The 27-nation bloc faces 25% import tariffs connected alloy and aluminium and cars and "reciprocal" tariffs of 20% from Wednesday for astir each different goods nether Trump's argumentation to deed nations helium says enforce precocious barriers to US imports. Ministers overseeing commercialized met Monday successful Luxembourg to statement the EU's response, arsenic good arsenic sermon relations with China. Many said the precedence was to motorboat negotiations and avert an outright trade war.

"We request to stay calm and respond successful a mode that de-escalates. The banal markets close present amusement what volition hap if we escalate straightaway. But we volition beryllium prepared to instrumentality countermeasures if needed to get the Americans astatine the table," Dutch commercialized curate Reinette Klever told reporters.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a property league successful Brussels that the EU stood acceptable to negociate a "zero-for-zero" tariff pact for concern goods.

"Sooner oregon later, we volition beryllium astatine the dialog array with the US and find a mutually acceptable compromise," EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic told a quality conference. He besides said the EU would commencement would commencement collecting a archetypal tranche of targeted retaliatory duties connected US imports from April 15 and a 2nd question from May 15, successful absorption to the US tariffs connected European alloy and aluminium.

Maros made wide that portion preferring to negociate the removal of the tariffs with the US, the EU was acceptable to measurement up its reply.

Anti-coercion instrument

This could see the EU's Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), which would let it to people US services oregon to bounds US companies' entree to nationalist procurement tenders successful the EU. "We are prepared to usage each instrumentality to support azygous market," helium said, echoing the views of French commercialized curate Laurent Saint-Martin.

But immoderate EU countries, peculiarly exposed to commercialized with the United States, urged caution. Irish overseas curate Simon Harris described the ACI arsenic "very overmuch the atomic option" and said helium believed astir EU countries were not acceptable to spell adjacent it, astatine slightest for now. Outgoing German system curate Robert Habeck said the EU should realise it was successful a beardown presumption - if it was united.

Non-tariff barriers

Meanwhile, White House commercialized advisor Peter Navarro said the EU volition request to little its non-tariff barriers, including those created by value-added taxes, if it wants to scope a woody to little US tariffs.