A Bloomberg report citing an official from the European Commission
Says that the commission told EU governments that they must stay united and be ready to "think outside the box" in talks with the US to gain permanent waiver from Trump's tariffs.
The official was cited in saying that the commission briefed ambassadors in Brussels today about how to go forward in dealing with the Trump administration ahead of the 1 May deadline for the temporary tariffs exemption.
The report also says that the commission has ruled out reviving negotiations on a broad EU-US free trade agreement or offering unilateral European concessions to the US.
An interesting bit in the report is that the official pointed out that the EU has no idea who they should be speaking with in order to advance negotiations on the matter. The official mentioned that currently EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom is liaising with US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross - but they're not sure if he's the right person in that regard.
It is also believed that any move for actual negotiations on the tariffs would require EU governments to decide on a mandate for the commission, and the official said it would be a process that wouldn't happen in time before the 1 May deadline.
In all likelihood, that means the EU will be subject to the tariffs when the temporary exemption comes to an end - unless Trump is feeling rather generous on the day.
