The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has claimed the bloc is ready to negotiate with the US. Hours after Donald Trump unveiled the tariffs the US has unleashed on the world over the past week, Ms von der Leyen warned the EU was preparing countermeasures as a united bloc, warning: “If you take on one of us, you take on all of us”

However, nearly one week later, as global markets have been hardly hit and spooked by the hefty levies on exports to the US, Ms von der Leyen announced she had offered the US President a “zero-for-zero” tariffs deal. She said on Monday: “We stand ready to negotiate with the US. Indeed, we have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods as we have successfully done with many other trading partners.

“Europe is always ready for a good deal. So we keep it on the table. But we are also prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests.”

Trump announced a 20% universal tariff on imports from the EU, which are set to take effect on April 9. Steel, aluminum and cars are subject to a separate 25% rate. In total, over €380 billion (£326 billion) in EU-made products will be affected. Pharmaceuticals, copper, lumber, semiconductors and energy, meanwhile, are exempt.

His announcement of widespread tariffs to be slapped on most countries around the world have sparked a meltdown in stock markets, with the Dow, FTSE 100 and S&P among the indexes most affected.

According to Ms von der Leyen, the “zero-for-zero” deal was offered in the past “repeatedly” for the automotive sector, “but there was no adequate reaction” from Washington.

As talks intensified in recent days, the Commission expanded the pitch to all industrial goods, a spokesperson said. No further details were provided.

“We prefer to have a negotiated solution,” von der Leyen said, warning her executive will use “all instruments” available to hit back “if necessary,” including an anti-coercion instrument (ACI), introduced in 2023 – as a means to deter and respond to economic coercion and better defend its interests and those its Member States – which has never been triggered.

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Von der Leyen previously described Trump’s sweeping tariffs as a “major turning point for the United States” that would have “immense costs” for both American consumers and businesses and deliver a “massive” blow to the global economy.

Washington described the tariffs as “reciprocal”, however, Brussels has dismissed its logic as “neither credible nor justified”.

During her intervention on Monday (April 7), Ms von der Leyen announced the creation of a new “task force” which will closely monitor the changes in global commerce.

“We will also protect ourselves against indirect effects through trade diversion. For this purpose, we will set up an ‘Import Surveillance Task Force’,” she said. “We look at what are the historical imports that we have and had and (whether) there is any specific surge all of a sudden of a certain product or in a certain sector that we have to act on.”

There are also fears in Brussels that Asian countries – whose economies depend on exports – will be locked out of the American market and divert their products to Europe instead. China is a particular concern, which is already under intense scrutiny for sending low-cost, heavily subsidised goods to the West.