EU says it would react to U.S. steel tariffs, awaits details

By Philip Blenkinsop

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Monday it would react to protect EU interests after U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of impending metals tariffs, but said it would not respond until it had clarification of the measures.

Trump said on Sunday that he would introduce new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the United States, in another major escalation of his trade policy overhaul.

The Commission said it had not received any official notification regarding additional tariffs on EU goods and would not respond to "broad announcements" without details or written clarification.

"The EU sees no justification for the imposition of tariffs on its exports. We will react to protect the interests of European businesses, workers and consumers from unjustified measures," the Commission said in a statement.

Trump's move, if confirmed, would mirror his action in his first term, when he imposed 25% tariffs on steel from many countries and 10% tariffs on aluminium. For the EU that covered 6.4 billion euros ($6.6 billion) worth of exports.

The EU responded in 2018 with an initial set of tariffs on 2.8 billion euros worth of U.S. goods, including bourbon and Harley Davidson motorcycles. It planned to add a further 3.6 billion euros of U.S. goods after three years.

By then, Joe Biden was U.S. president and the two sides agreed to suspend U.S. tariffs and EU countermeasures, the former until the end of this year, the latter until March 31.

The United States' suspension of tariffs amounted to a quota of 3.3 million metric tons of steel and 384,000 tonnes of aluminium from EU producers, based on historical averages.

EU diplomats said it would make most sense to reapply the countermeasures if Trump went ahead with the import tariffs.

($1 = 0.9702 euros)

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout and Gareth Jones)