-
ALSO READ
No trade war yet with U.S. due to planned tariffs, German minister says German economy minister says EU must respond to proposed U.S. tariffs 'Protectionist' Trump tariffs 'offend' Germany Exclusive: German government raises 2018 growth forecast to 2.4 percent: sources Europeans, IMF tell Trump to step back from trade war -
BERLIN (Reuters) - A trade war between Europe and the United States can still be averted, German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries said on Saturday, adding she hoped that talks in Brussels this weekend could help to prevent an escalation.
U.S. President Donald Trump set import tariffs on Thursday of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium but is under heavy pressure from allies including the European Union and Japan to dilute the measures.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was due to meet EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom and separately with Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko on Saturday for long-planned talks that have taken on added urgency amid concerns that Trump's move could provoke a global trade war.
Zypries told Deutschlandfunk radio that so far no tariffs had been imposed and it was too early to talk about a looming trade war. "But we've reached a situation in which the preliminary skirmishes have become serious," she added.
Zypries said the EU's Malmstrom was trying to solve the dispute through negotiations, adding: "There are still talks going on, things are in flux, so if you want you could say it's still about diplomacy and not war."
The minister said Trump's proposed tariffs would violate the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and that Germany would coordinate closely with the European Commission on how to react if Trump pushed ahead.
"Of course, we would have to take proceedings against him at the WTO," Zypries said. "And in addition, we will have to think about counter-measures."
(Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Gareth Jones)
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU