Europe will implement countermeasures against U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum just like Canada, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told ARD television in an interview after the G-7 summit, Reuters reported.
Merkel said the European Union is preparing countermeasures in line with World Trade Organisation rules, saying that the planned action is to not "let ourselves be ripped off again and again," Reuters said.
Merkel added that measures to prevent possible U.S. retaliatory tariffs on car imports from Europe will be undertaken and then "hope that the EU will respond again in the same unity," the report said.
The German leader also said any talks about a trade bloc would have to include non-tariff barriers to trade as well as free access to public tenders.
She was also quoted in the report as saying that U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw support for a G-7 communique via Twitter was "sobering and a bit depressing."
Merkel said progress in a peace plan for Ukraine is needed before Russia can rejoin the G-7. It was removed from what was then the G-8 after annexing Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
