German finance minister says EU must be ready for decisive action over U.S. tariff hike
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said the European Union must take “decisive” measures against the United States if tariff negotiations fail amid an escalating trade war.
“If a fair negotiated solution does not succeed, then we must take decisive countermeasures to protect jobs and companies in Europe,” Klingbeil told German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
“Our hand remains outstretched, but we will not go along with everything,” he added.
Trump on Saturday threatened to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the EU from August 1, after weeks of negotiations with the major U.S. trading partners failed to reach a comprehensive trade deal.
He originally imposed a duty of 20% on EU goods in April, but this later was suspended for 90 days and replaced with a baseline tariff of 10%.
Last week he pushed back the deadline for negotiations to August 1. This was separate from sector tariffs covering steel, aluminium and car imports from the EU to the U.S.
