Il Nuovo Postiglione - EU still seeks trade deal after new Trump tariff threat

The US leader threw months of painstaking talks into disarray on Saturday by announcing he would hammer the bloc with the sweeping tariffs if no agreement is reached by August 1.

Heading into Brussels talks with EU trade ministers, the bloc's trade chief Maros Sefcovic said despite Trump's latest threat he "felt" Washington was ready to continue negotiating -- and he planned to speak with his US counterparts later in the day.

Sefcovic, who is leading talks on behalf of the EU's 27 states, said reaching a deal remained the priority -- while acknowledging calls from countries including key power France for the bloc to flex its muscles in negotiations.

"The current uncertainty caused by unjustified tariffs cannot persist indefinitely," Sefcovic told reporters, adding the EU was preparing for "all outcomes", including "well-considered, proportionate countermeasures".

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday delayed a package of retaliatory measures over US tariffs on steel and aluminium -- a day before they were set to kick in -- as a sign of goodwill.

But diplomats said an additional package of reprisal measures will be presented to trade ministers Monday that could be rolled out if Trump imposes the 30-percent tariffs.

The EU threatened in May to target a much bigger swathe of US goods including cars and planes if talks fail. Diplomats said the finalised list was expected to be worth 72 billion euros.

- 'Prepare for war' -

France's trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said retaliation plans should be drawn up with "no taboos" adding the weekend's setback called for a rethink of the bloc's tactics.

"If you hold anything back, you are not strengthening your hand in negotiations," he said at the Brussels talks. "Obviously, the situation since Saturday requires us to change our strategy."

Denmark's foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, said Brussels needed to show its strength.

"We don't want any kind of trade war with the US... we don't want to escalate things," he said.

"We want a deal but there's an old saying: 'if you want peace, you have to prepare for war'," he said ahead of the talks.

EU nations -- some of which export far more to the United States than others -- have sought to stay on the same page over how strong a line to take with Washington in order to get a deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday urged von der Leyen's commission to "resolutely defend European interests" and said the EU should step up preparation for countermeasures.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz agreed and said he had spoken to Macron, Trump and von der Leyen in the past few days and would "engage intensively" to try to find a solution.

- Deals and duties -

Brussels had readied duties on US goods worth around 21 billion euros in response to the levies Trump slapped on metal imports earlier this year.

But it held off on those measures to give space to find a broader trade agreement -- and has now suspended them again until early August.

Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has unleashed sweeping stop-start tariffs on allies and competitors alike, roiling financial markets and raising fears of a global economic downturn.

But his administration faces pressure to secure deals with trading partners after promising a flurry of agreements.

So far, US officials have only unveiled two pacts, with Britain and Vietnam, alongside temporarily lower tit-for-tat duties with China.

The EU tariff is markedly steeper than the 20 percent levy Trump unveiled in April -- but paused initially until mid-July.

Thomas Byrne, the minister for Ireland whose pharmaceutical industry puts it on the front line of Trump's trade war along with industrial powerhouse Germany, called for Europe to "work our hardest" for a deal before August 1.

"That gives us certainty, it protects investments, it protects jobs," he said.

E.Scozzafava--INP