BRUSSELS - EU ministers on Monday will debate the bloc's approach to trade talks with the United States, as Brussels scrambles to head off 30 percent tariffs threatened by President Donald Trump.
Trump threw months of painstaking negotiations into disarray on Saturday by announcing he would hammer the bloc with sweeping 30 percent tariffs if no agreement is reached by August 1.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has insisted the EU still wants to reach an accord -- and on Sunday delayed retaliation over separate US tariffs on steel and aluminium as a sign of goodwill.
"We have always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution," the president of the commission, which handles trade issues on behalf of the EU's 27 countries, said.
This remains the case, and we will use the time that we have now till August 1."
The move by von der Leyen spurs hope that Trump's latest threat -- in which he also targeted Mexico -- has not killed off the progress made in negotiations that have taken place so far between Brussels and Washington.
But EU officials insist the bloc remains clear-eyed on the challenges of dealing with the unpredictable US leader, and ready to hit back.
Diplomats said that an additional package of reprisal measures will be presented to trade ministers at their meeting in Brussels on Monday that could be rolled out if Trump imposes the 30 percent tariffs.
The EU threatened in May to slap tariffs on US goods worth around 100 billion euros ($117 billion), including cars and planes, if talks fail to yield an agreement -- although one diplomat said the finalised list was expected to be worth 72 billion euros.
EU nations -- some of which export far more to the United States than others -- have sought to stay on the same page over how strong a line to take with Washington in order to get a deal.