Supermarket group Ahold Delhaize and Siemens Energy said US import tariffs will lead to higher prices as they pass on the costs, while speciality steelmaker voestalpine urged Brussels to retaliate for duties threatened by Donald Trump.
Executives around the world are scrambling to offset the cost of the US president's move to impose 25 percent tariffs on aluminium and steel and keep up with changing US trade policies that threaten to upend industries from autos to consumer goods to energy.
On Wednesday, Trump's trade advisers were finalising plans for the reciprocal tariffs the US president has vowed to impose on every country that charges duties on US imports, ratcheting up fears of a widening global trade war.
Trade ministers of the 27-country European Union were preparing to meet later by videoconference to determine their response after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said moves against the bloc "will not go unanswered".
