The EU will trigger a dispute settlement case at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in response to US tariff hikes on steel and aluminium, the bloc's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says.
Mogherini said the EU would also apply retaliatory tariffs on certain US imports. The bloc earlier this month notified the WTO that the retaliatory tariffs could come into effect from June 20.
Canada and Mexico, which also failed to win exemptions from the new US tariffs, meanwhile announced retaliatory tariffs on ranges of US imports.
"Clearly the EU has to defend its interests and this is why ... the EU will today proceed with the WTO dispute settlement case and impose additional duties on a number of imports from the United States," Mogherini said on Friday.
But Mogherini said that the EU, whose request for a permanent exemption from the new US tariffs was rejected by US President Donald Trump on Thursday, did not want a trans-Atlantic trade war.
"We work very closely with the US on most issues, from security to international foreign policy issues, and this will continue to be the case," Mogherini argued. "The European Union is not at war with anyone."
The EU, Mexico and Canada had initially received exemptions when US President Donald Trump declared global tariffs on imported metals, which started in March, but on Thursday Washington announced that those waivers would lapse.
Condemnation for Trump's move, which he had cast as a response to the impact of "decades of unfair trade" on US industry, also came from Germany and France.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Trump overnight and told him his decision was illegal under WTO law, a source in the Elysee Palace said.
Macron also warned Trump that an economic nationalist approach would end up punishing everyone, including the US, the source said.
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz too described Trump's decision as "wrong" and "illegal," and said the EU would respond forcefully.
"This is not a good day for the trans-Atlantic relationship," Scholz told reporters.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is also due to hold talks with Trump the G7 summit.
"We will maintain the channel of communication with our American partners, and this is why also President Juncker will meet President Trump at the G7 next week in Canada," says Juncker's spokeswoman Mina Andreeva.
