EU trade ministers weigh response to latest Trump tariff threat

European Union trade ministers on Monday will debate the bloc's approach to trade talks with the United States, as Brussels scrambles to head off 30 percent tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.

An additional package of reprisal measures will be presented to trade ministers at their meeting, which could be rolled out if Trump imposes the 30 percent tariffs.

Trump threw months of painstaking negotiations into disarray on Saturday by announcing he would hammer the bloc with sweeping 30 percent tariffs if no agreement is reached by August 1.

The EU said on Sunday it would extend its suspension of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until early August and continue to press for a negotiated settlement.

Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EU's executive commission which handles trade policy for the 27 member states, said the bloc would maintain its two-track approach: keep talking and prepare retaliatory measures.

"We have always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution. This remains the case, and we will use the time that we have now," von der Leyen said at a press conference, adding that the bloc would extend its halt on countermeasures until August.

'Defend European interests'

EU nations – some of which export far more to the U.S. 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 the European Commission to "resolutely defend European interests" and said the EU should step up preparation for countermeasures.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz agreed and said on Sunday that 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 over the next two and a half weeks.

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said on Sunday the EU should be ready to take firm action if talks failed.

"If a fair negotiated solution does not succeed, then we must take decisive countermeasures to protect jobs and companies in Europe," Klingbeil, also vice chancellor in the ruling coalition, told Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

'Weaken everyone'

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned on Sunday that a "trade war within the West" would weaken everyone.

Asked about the impact of a 30 percent U.S. tariff on Germany, Merz said: "If that were to happen, we would have to postpone large parts of our economic policy efforts because it would interfere with everything and hit the German export industry to the core."

A 30 percent duty would be "disastrous" for France's food industry, said Jean-François Loiseau, president of food lobby group ANIA.

France's cheese producers warned of the damaging consequences of a 30 percent tariff for the local dairy industry, which exports nearly half its produce, including to the United States.

"It's a new environment we will have to get used to – I don't think this is temporary," Francois Xavier Huard, CEO of dairy association FNIL, told Reuters.

Huard added the industry may have to rethink its strategy relating to the markets in which it operates.

Urging an end to the escalating trade tensions, Klingbeil said "Trump's tariffs produce only losers. They threaten the American economy just as much as they harm businesses in Europe."

(With input from agencies)