The European Commission is drawing up a new list of U.S. products, which could include ketchup and frozen fish, to be included in retaliatory tariffs on €18 billion of goods as it prepares for Washington's planned additional levies on European-made cars, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed European officials.
The bloc is also looking at raisins, suitcases and adhesive bandages after U.S. President Donald Trump in June ordered an investigation into automobiles and automotive parts imported into the U.S. on national security grounds. The probe could lead to a 20% tariff on imported EU cars.
The U.S. may introduce the new measures as soon as September, the FT said. The bloc estimates the auto tariffs would affect $58 billion of EU products.
An EU commission official said "we are not going to speculate on any possible scenarios that might materialize or not," and declined to comment on the retaliatory list, the FT reported.
Earlier, the EU was reportedly considering talks with other major car exporters regarding a deal that would cut tariffs between participating countries and prevent a trade war. EU officials were studying the idea ahead of a meeting between European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Trump later in July.