The European Union is seeking clarity from Washington about whether the 28-nation bloc will be exempt from President Donald Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs, the EU's top trade official said Friday. "We hope that we can get confirmation that the EU is excluded from this," EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem told policy makers, experts and reporters at an event in Brussels. She noted that under WTO rules, once Trump's tariffs come into force in two weeks, the EU would have 90 days to enact the measures. We cannot possibly be a threat to national security in the U.S., so we are counting on being excluded," she said. "The loss of exports to the U.S., combined with an expected massive import surge in the EU could cost tens of thousands of jobs in the EU steel industry and related sectors," Eggert said.

Source: ABC News March 09, 2018 08:46 UTC