By Ben Knight with DW News
Germany’s political leadership has reacted sharply to President Donald Trump’s tweets threatening “a tax” on European cars that “freely pour into the US,” and a declaration, made last Thursday before industry executives, that the US would impose a 25-percent tariff on steel imports and a 10-percent tariff on aluminum.
The EU has said it is planning to forge a coalition of countries to agree a unified reaction to Trump’s move. According to the European news portal Euractiv, European Commission officials are in contact with other affected countries, including Canada, Brazil, South Korea, Japan, Australia and Turkey.
But the EU is reportedly also prepared to react alone, and is preparing to approve a package of measures on Wednesday that will seek, among other things, to settle the dispute with the US and agree upon retaliatory measures.