The EU says the U.S. is resisting efforts to strike a trade deal and warned of countermeasures if no agreement is reached with U.S. by Aug. 1.

The US president’s hardened stance aims to test the EU’s pain threshold after weeks of talks on a framework agreement that would have maintained a baseline tariff of 10 per cent on most goods. People familiar with the negotiations say Trump has also been unmoved by the latest EU offer to reduce car tariffs,

President Donald Trump said he would send letters to more than 150 countries notifying them their tariff rates could be 10% or 15% as he forges ahead with his trade agenda.