Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Trump on new tariffs: 'We haven't been treated fairly'

US President Donald Trump has stepped up his war of words over trade tariffs, threatening to "apply a tax" on imports of cars from the European Union. Trump's hasty decision to impose tariffs on steel imports has stoked talk of a brewing trade war, roiling both the political establishment and the global economic order. EU trade chiefs have reportedly been considering slapping 25% tariffs on around $3.5bn (£2.5bn) of imports from the US, following Mr Trump's proposal of a 25% tariff on imported steel and 10% on aluminium. Perez-Rocha says, “The main US trade partners, including Canada, the European Union, Mexico, Japan, China and Brazil, have all said they are weighing countermeasures to the new steep tariffs.”

Avoiding a trade war would mean “dealing with perceived trade imbalances or distortions multilaterally, not unilaterally and abruptly like Mr. Trump has done,” he added. "He was making good on a campaign promise to revive US manufacturing and address a trade imbalance with China, which saw him win big in Rust Belt states like Pennsylvania where he promised to bring back jobs," Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey, reporting from New York, said. Le Maire said that "all options are on the table" including retaliation before the World Trade Organisation and countermeasures to limit European imports of US goods.
In a message on Twitter, U.S. President Donald Trump says the U.S. will apply a tax on cars made in the European Union if the E.U. "further" increases tariffs.