EU seeks unity in first strike back at Trump tariffs

BRUSSELS: European Union countries will seek to present a united front in the coming days against US President Donald Trump's tariffs, likely approving a first set of targeted countermeasures on up to US$28 billion of US imports from dental floss to diamonds. Such a move would mean the EU joining China and Canada in imposing retaliatory tariffs on the United States in an early escalation of what some fear will become a global trade war, making goods more expensive for billions of consumers and pushing economies around the world into recession. The European Commission, which coordinates EU trade policy, will propose to members late on Monday a list of US products to hit with extra duties in response to Trump's steel and aluminium tariffs rather than the broader reciprocal levies.