EU, U.S. to Meet 'Next Week' to Discuss Trade Tariffs

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem will meet next week to try to defuse a trade row sparked by controversial U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, EU sources said Thursday.

After a phone call, "Commissioner Malmstroem and Secretary Ross agreed to meet next week -- the details of this meeting are still to be decided upon," a European Commission source said.

The negotiations between the EU and the U.S. are to win an exception for Europe from the tariffs, with Brussels seeking clarity on how to achieve that before they come into effect on March 23.

U.S. President Donald Trump sparked a firestorm earlier this month by suddenly announcing plans to institute sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum imports in response to alleged dumping and improper subsidies that Ross said had endangered U.S. security.

The announcement of duties of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum has stung the EU, coming as a surprise to U.S. allies and also to many in Washington.

Trump on Monday said Ross would use the talks to persuade Europeans to lower their tariffs and other barriers on U.S. products.

At a campaign rally Saturday, Trump threatened to "tax" German cars if the EU does not lower its barriers on U.S. goods.

Brussels has pushed back the hardest against Washington's shock measures, loudly announcing a list of U.S. products -- including peanuts and motorcycles -- it could hit with countermeasures.

To avoid all-out trade war, Malmstroem has also held talks, so far fruitless, with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer aimed at defusing the row.