President Donald Trump was warned by the Director General of BusinessEurope, Markus Beyrer, that the US would face “clear action” if they impose tariffs.
Mr Beyrer added he thought the European Union would be exempt from the tariffs, avoiding a trade war.
He said: “On the situation with the US, on trade, I think we have been very clear today again. Of course, we do not want an escalation.
“Of course, it very important to keep a good and sound relationship with our major trading partner which is the US.
“At the same time we are faced with what we would qualify as WTO breaching discussed safeguard, which means that number one, we still hope and there has been some signs of optimism, which we are glad to hear.
“But we still hope Europe will be fully exempted because, to be honest on a rational debate, it is simply not feasible to answer the question whether or not Europe is a security partner of the US or not, I think we are one of the closest. So we should get an exemption.
“At the same time, we need to protect our rights. We fully stand by the Commission in taking moderate, appropriate, balanced by also clear action in terms of necessity because turning the other cheek in this case alone might not be enough.”
The trade tariffs proposed by the US President sparked a furious reaction from the European Union.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has branded the US President’s plans as “unlawful.”
US President Donald Trump has also proposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports in an attempt to hit China.
Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: “When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars in trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good and easy to win.
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