The body is confident of a tariff agreement with the US but urges that rebalancing measures be ready.

Donald Trump's letter proposing a 30% tariff on the EU starting in August hasn't been well received in Brussels. EU trade ministers are meeting this Monday to assess the situation, confident in the negotiations. Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo believes an agreement is possible, although he also believes the EU must be ready to implement countermeasures.

"An agreement with the United States is within our reach. We must intensify our efforts in the coming weeks to be able to reach the most beneficial scenario for everyone: an agreement with the United States ," the Spanish minister stated upon his arrival at the meeting in Brussels.

Cuerpo expressed support for the EU's ability to react. He advocated for Brussels to have countermeasures ready in case an agreement cannot be reached. He referred, in this regard, to the second round of tariffs that the European Commission proposed in May , which are currently on hold, but also to other measures to balance the situation in case there is no agreement.

"We are in a similar situation to last week," said the Minister of Economy, reiterating the message conveyed this weekend by the EU executive. "Once those dates in early August arrive, we will see what the situation is and whether the conditions are right for implementing rebalancing measures . We have the measures in place if we don't reach an agreement."

In any case, for Cuerpo, the important thing is to "accelerate negotiations" in the two weeks remaining until the end of the truce granted by Trump on August 1. "The EU and all member states are in continuous diplomatic contact with major strategic partners," he stated, in favor of finding new trade relationships that will allow for a diversified relationship with Washington.

Trade ministers will decide this Monday whether to extend the tariff break that applied to the first round of tariffs on US imports. This first package targeted products such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Levy's jeans, and soybeans, and, after the trade pause, was scheduled to take effect this Monday. The most likely outcome, as Cuerpo has indicated, is that the pause will be extended to match the August 1 deadline granted by Trump.