AFP, Brussels

The EU still hopes to strike a deal with the United States despite President Donald Trump’s ramped-up threat of 30-percent tariffs, the bloc’s trade chief said Monday, with pressure on Brussels to toughen its stance.

The US leader threw months of painstaking talks into disarray on Saturday by announcing he would hammer the bloc with the sweeping tariffs if no agreement is reached by August 1.

Heading into Brussels talks with EU trade ministers, the bloc’s trade chief Maros Sefcovic said despite Trump’s latest threat he “felt” Washington was ready to continue negotiating -- and he planned to speak with his US counterparts later in the day.

Sefcovic, who is leading talks on behalf of the EU’s 27 states, said reaching a deal remained the priority -- while acknowledging calls from countries including key power France for the bloc to flex its muscles in negotiations.

“The current uncertainty caused by unjustified tariffs cannot persist indefinitely,” Sefcovic told reporters, adding the EU was preparing for “all outcomes”, including “well-considered, proportionate countermeasures”. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday delayed a package of retaliatory measures over US tariffs on steel and aluminium -- a day before they were set to kick in -- as a sign of goodwill.