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EU Commission chief discusses U.S. Tariff response with auto executives, steel executives and pharmaceutical executives

Sources and a letter indicated that Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, spoke with representatives from the metals sector on Monday. She then addressed the automotive industry to discuss ways to respond to U.S. Tariffs.

The calls were held to gather more information to strategise future trade countermeasures, beyond Brussels' forthcoming response to Washington's steel duties that have been announced previously and which will be voted upon later this week. Tuesday is set for a third call with representatives of the European pharmaceuticals sector.

Investors feared that the tariffs Trump announced last weekend could lead to higher costs, weaker demand, and a possible global recession.

Von der Leyen said in his invitation letter that the EU would propose a "trade measure" to replace the steel safeguards by 1 July 2026. This trade measure will provide a high level of protection from negative trade-related impacts caused by global overcapacity.

She added that "the views of the sector will be crucial in further developing our common response to U.S. Tariffs."

According to ACEA (the industry group in Brussels), the call with the European automotive industry was scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

A spokesperson for ACEA stated that the Commission was looking to "collect analysis on possible impacts of U.S. Tariffs on the EU Automotive Sector and explore proposals for the most efficient EU response".

The spokesperson said that the group has requested a solution through negotiation.

Callers included CEOs and chairmen from BMW, Volkswagen Stellantis Scania Daimler Truck Bosch and BMW as well as lobby groups.

Three industry sources said that the European Commission invited the CEOs of big pharma companies with headquarters in the EU to a meeting late last week.

According to a fourth source, the Commission could have extended invitations later to Swiss firms like Novartis or Roche. This was not confirmed immediately. Roche declined to make any comment.

Both the European Biotech Lobby group Europabio and the European Big Pharma Trade lobby EFPIA confirmed that their respective Directors General will be attending.

In an invitation received by a participating party, the meeting was set for Tuesday at 10:30 am (0830 GMT). (Reporting and editing by Julia Payne, Maggie Fick and Kevin Liffey).

(source: Reuters)