. In a newspaper interview on Monday, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani stated that if the two sides are unable to come to an agreement on trade, the European Union has already prepared a list of tariffs worth 21 billion euros ($24.52 billion) on US imports.
Following weeks of negotiations with key US trading partners that failed to produce a comprehensive agreement, President Donald Trump warned on Saturday to put a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the EU beginning on August 1.
Tajani also told the daily Il Messaggero that the European Central Bank need to think about implementing more interest rate cuts and a new “quantitative easing” bond-buying program in order to support the euro zone economy.
On Sunday, the European Union announced that it would continue to suspend actions against US tariffs.
