The European Union's trade chief is questioning the rationale of US President Donald Trump in threatening to impose tariffs on EU exports of steel and aluminum, and says his move is undermining longstanding trans-Atlantic ties.
Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told the EU legislature early today that while the 28-nation EU would continue to seek exemption from the measure that could kick in next week, it will prepare countermeasures to equally hit US exports.
Trump has said that the import tariffs are necessary on national security grounds, but Malmstrom insisted this is a ruse and said that "we suspect that the US move is effectively not based on security considerations but an economic safeguard measure in disguise.
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