EU should avoid escalation amid US tariff negotiations - Lithuanian FM

VILNIUS - With US President Donald Trump threatening the EU to impose 30 percent tariffs from next month, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys says the EU should avoid escalation in its relations with the US when negotiating tariffs.

"In our view, from our perspective, tariffs are not good for anyone. We have to look for good solution in our trade relations because the European Union has always stood for the fair trade, trade that is based on international regulations and respects for international regulations," Lithuania's top diplomat told reporters in Brussels on Monday.

"We have to avoid escalation in our relations with United States because we have so many things in front of us that we have to solve together. These are geo-economic challenges, these are global challenges, and also the issues that we have to solve together with United States, like fentanyl, for example. So we are looking for the constructive way forward," Budrys said.

On Saturday, Trump said that Mexico and the EU would be subject to a 30 percent tariff from next month. Announced in a letter to the bloc, the new tariff is significantly higher than the 20 percent tariff Trump announced in April, although trade negotiations between Washington and the EU are still ongoing.

Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday that Brussels would continue to postpone the tariffs on US goods that it had vowed to introduce as a response to the US tariffs on steel and aluminium imposed at the start of the year.

The current suspension of the EU's retaliatory measures against US tariffs was due to expire overnight from Monday to Tuesday.

According to Budrys, the US president's letters on tariffs are seen as a "call to continue negotiations", which need to be intensified in order to reach a "good agreement".

"Lithuania fully supports the European Commission's position and the negotiations," Budrys said.