BRUSSELS, Belgium, July 14, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The EU's trade chief said he planned to speak with his US counterparts Monday, as Brussels scrambles to head off a new threat of 30-percent tariffs by President Donald Trump.

Trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic -- who is leading negotiations on behalf on the EU's 27 countries -- said that despite the US leader's threat, he "felt" Washington was ready to continue the negotiations.

"I intend to speak with my US counterparts again later today, as I cannot imagine walking away without genuine effort," Sefcovic said ahead of a meeting of the bloc's trade ministers.

Trump threw months of painstaking negotiations into disarray on Saturday by announcing he would hammer the EU with sweeping 30-percent tariffs if no agreement is reached by August 1.

"The current uncertainty caused by unjustified tariffs cannot persist indefinitely," Sefcovic told reporters.

Reaching a deal remained the European Union's priority, but Brussels was preparing for "all outcomes", including "well-considered, proportionate countermeasures", he added.

An additional package of reprisal measures will be presented to trade ministers from the bloc's 27 nations at their meeting in Brussels on Monday, according to diplomatic sources.

France's trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said on arrival at the Brussels talks the EU's retaliation plans should be drawn up with "no taboos".

"If you hold anything back, you are not strengthening your hand in negotiations," he said.

Saint-Martin reiterated France's support for the commission -- which conducts trade policy on behalf of the 27 member states -- but he also said the weekend's setback called for a rethink of the bloc's tactics.

"Obviously, the situation since Saturday requires us to change our strategy," he said.

Denmark's foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, said Brussels needed to flex its muscles to reach a fair accord.

"We don't want any kind of trade war with the US... we don't want to escalate things," he said.

"We want a deal but there's an old saying: 'if you want peace, you have to prepare for war'," he said ahead of the talks.