Sawt Falasteen - EU chief delays retaliation for US tariffs in search of deal

US President Donald Trump on Saturday threw months of painstaking negotiations into disarray by announcing he would hammer the 27-nation bloc with the sweeping tariffs if no agreement is reached by August 1.

"The United States has sent us a letter with measures that would come into effect unless there is a negotiated solution, so we will therefore also extend the suspension of our countermeasures until early August," von der Leyen told journalists.

"At the same time, we will continue to prepare for the countermeasures so we're fully prepared," she added.

The European Commission president insisted that the European Union has "always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution. This remains the case, and we will use the time that we have now till August 1".

The move by von der Leyen will spur hope that Trump's latest threat -- in which he also targeted Mexico -- has not killed off the progress made in negotiations so far between Brussels and Washington.

The European Union's current suspension of its retaliation over US steel and aluminium tariffs had been set to expire overnight Monday to Tuesday.

Brussels has readied duties on US goods worth around 21 billion euros ($24 billion) in response to the levies Trump slapped on metal imports earlier this year.

But it announced in April it was holding off on those measures to give space to find a broader trade agreement with the Trump administration.

"Since the very beginning, we have worked and now are ready to respond with countermeasures. We've prepared for this, and we can respond with countermeasures if necessary," von der Leyen said.

- 'Hand remains outstretched' -

EU trade ministers are set to meet Monday in Brussels to discuss the bloc's response to Trump's latest move -- and crucially how strong a line to take with Washington.

Germany's finance minister Lars Klingbeil said on Sunday that "serious and solution-oriented negotiations" with the United States were still necessary, but added that if they fail, the European Union would need "decisive countermeasures to protect jobs and businesses in Europe".

"Our hand remains outstretched but we won't accept just anything," Klingbeil told daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

That came after French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday urged the European Commission -- which negotiates on behalf of all EU countries -- to "resolutely defend European interests".

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 is coming under 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 European Union, alongside dozens of other economies, had been set to see its US tariff level increase from a baseline of 10 percent on July 9, but Trump pushed back the deadline to August 1.

In a letter published on Saturday, Trump cited the United States's trade imbalance with the bloc as justification for the new 30-percent levies.

The EU tariff is markedly steeper than the 20-percent levy Trump had unveiled in April -- before hitting pause as markets went into meltdown.

M.AlAhmad--SF-PST