EU appeals to Trump: 'make trade, not war'

European Union leader Donald Tusk urged US President Donald Trump today not to undermine the sides' longstanding trans-Atlantic ties by seeking economic gains through punishing trade tariffs.

"Let me be clear: instead of risking a trade war, which he seems eager to wage, we should be aiming for greater cooperation," Tusk told reporters in Helsinki, Finland.

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told the EU parliament that while the 28-nation bloc would continue to seek an exemption from the US tariffs on imported steel and aluminum that could kick in next week, it will prepare countermeasures to hit US goods.

Trump has said that the tariffs are necessary on national security grounds, but Malmstrom insisted this is a ruse: "We suspect that the US move is effectively not based on security considerations but an economic safeguard measure in disguise."