Photo taken on May 23, 2025 shows European Union flags at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo: Xinhua)

The European Union (EU) is planning to engage with other countries affected by US-imposed tariffs, including Canada and Japan as well as potential partners in Asia-Pacific region, after a new wave of threats targeting the bloc and other US trade partners, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing anonymous sources. 

This comes as EU-US negotiations remain stalled, with little progress on key sticking points such as automobile trade and agricultural tariffs.

European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday that the bloc will extend the suspension of trade countermeasures against the US until August 1 to allow for further talks. 

Von der Leyen said measures had been adopted in response to tariffs imposed earlier by the US on steel and aluminum before being paused once already, and were due to snap back into place at midnight on Tuesday, according to the report. "At the same time, we will continue to prepare further countermeasures so we are fully prepared," von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels, reiterating the EU's preference for a "negotiated solution," Bloomberg reported.

Von der Leyen also said that the EU's anti-coercion instrument, the bloc's most powerful trade tool, would not be used at this point. "The ACI is created for extraordinary situations," she said. "We are not there yet."

EC Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera said on Monday that the EU is also looking to deepen trade agreements with India and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region amid US' tariff hike, according to another Bloomberg report. 

"We need to explore how far, how deep we can go in the Pacific area with other countries," Ribera said.

US President Donald Trump announced on social media on Saturday that a 30 percent tariff on the EU and Mexico will take effect starting August 1, 2025. French President Emmanuel Macron called for accelerating the preparation of credible countermeasures, by mobilizing all instruments at the bloc's disposal, including anti-coercion, if no agreement is reached by August 1, per the French leader's social media account.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Trump's threat of 30 percent tariffs would hit exporters in Europe's largest economy "to the core," if a negotiated solution in the trade conflict cannot be found in the coming weeks, according to the Bloomberg report.

Regarding a tariff raise on Canada to 35 percent starting on August 1, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government has steadfastly defended their workers and business. "We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1," read his social media post on Friday.

On July 8, Trump announced on social media that 25 percent tariffs would be imposed on imports from Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK), respectively, beginning August 1. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called the announcement of tariffs "truly regrettable" and vowed to continue protecting his nation's interests in the extended trade negotiations, according to a previous Bloomberg report. 

Global Times