Brussels. European Union member states voted Wednesday to approve retaliatory tariffs on $23 billion in goods in response to US President Donald Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, as the largest US trading partner described them as “unjustified and damaging."

The tariffs will go into effect in stages, with some on April 15 and others on May 15 and Dec. 1. The EU executive commission didn’t immediately provide a list of the goods.

Members of the 27-country bloc repeated their preference for a negotiated deal to settle trade issues.

“The EU considers US tariffs unjustified and damaging, causing economic harm to both sides, as well as the global economy," the EU's executive commission said in a statement. "The EU has stated its clear preference to find negotiated outcomes with the US, which would be balanced and mutually beneficial.”

The targeted goods are a tiny fraction of the 1.6 trillion euros ($1.8 trillion) in US-EU annual trade, which sees some 4.4 billion euros in goods and services cross the Atlantic each day in what the European Commission calls “the most important commercial relationship in the world.”

The head of the EU’s executive commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has offered Trump a zero-for-zero tariffs deal on industrial goods including cars. But Trump has said that’s not enough to satisfy US concerns.

Trump’s expanded steel and aluminum tariffs came into effect in March.

The EU has targeted smaller lists of goods in hopes of exerting political pressure and avoiding economic damage from a wider escalation of tit-for-tat tariffs.

The EU is also working on a response to Trump's blanket 20 percent tariff on all European goods, imposed as part of his sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs imposed on global trading partners. That could include measures aimed at US tech companies and the services sector as well as trade in goods.

France's Economic Minister Eric Lombard said the second package “will take account not only of European imports, but also of other ways in which we can respond.”

Speaking to legislators in the National Assembly in Paris, Lombard added that “the idea is that, with these extremely strong, extremely powerful measures, we can get to the negotiating table on an equal footing, so that both sides of these duties can be lowered and all our economic sectors protected."

China Raises Its Retaliatory Tariff to 84 Percent 
Earlier in the day, China again vowed to “fight to the end" in an escalating trade war with the US as it announced it would raise tariffs on American goods to 84 percent from Thursday.

Beijing also added an array of countermeasures after Trump raised the total tariff on imports from China to 104 percent. Beijing said it was launching an additional suit against the US at the World Trade Organization and placed further restrictions on American companies' trade with Chinese companies.

“If the US insists on further escalating its economic and trade restrictions, China has the firm will and abundant means to take necessary countermeasures and fight to the end,” the Ministry of Commerce wrote in a statement introducing its white paper on trade with the US.

The government declined to say whether it would negotiate with the White House, as many other countries have started doing.

On Friday, China announced a 34 percent tariff on all goods imported from the US, export controls on rare earths minerals, and a slew of other measures in response to Trump's “Liberation Day” tariffs. Trump then added an additional 50 percent tariff on goods from China, saying negotiations with them were terminated.

Wednesday's newest measures include adding 11 American companies to a so-called “unreliable entities” list that would bar Chinese companies from selling them dual-use goods. Among the companies are American Photonics, and SYNEXXUS, both of whom work with the American military.

So far, China has not appeared interested in bargaining. “If the US truly wants to resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation, it should adopt an attitude of equality, respect and mutual benefit,” said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian Wednesday.

The paper says that the US has not honored the promises it made in the phase 1 trade deal concluded during Trump’s first term. As an example, it said that a US law that would ban TikTok unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company violates a promise that neither would “pressure the other party to transfer technology to its own individuals.”

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