Europe won’t give in to US threats in trade dispute – German FM

Europe will not bow to threats from the United States in a trade dispute and wants to resolve it via negotiations, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday. The statement came before European Commission talks with Washington on the issue. Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is due to meet President Donald Trump to discuss the imposition of US tariffs on EU steel and aluminum, and possible measures on European cars. “We are not heading to negotiations with a pistol at our chest. I don’t think threats bring us closer to a solution,” Reuters quoted Maas as saying. “We in Europe must stick together… We will not be threatened and climb down so easily,” he told German public television. Trump has described the bloc as a “trade foe.”