White house official confirmed to the BBC that the European Union is included in countries subject to the basic 10%duty, which came into force on April 5.

At the same time, according to the same source, duties imposed by the Donald Trump government, aluminum and cars, remain unchanged, a White House official said.

Earlier this year, the US president ordered a 25% duty on all steel and aluminum imports, removing previous exceptions for commercial partners, such as Canada and the EU.

It is noted that Donald Trump announced the suspension of 90 days of duties imposed on “offenders” countries, as it had described “countries with which the US has a trade deficit”, however, maintaining the universal basic duty of 10% for all countries except China and Mexico. This duty was implemented on April 5th.

Earlier today, the European Union approved the first countermeasures against the United States for its duties, shortly before Trump announced the cessation of duties.

“This was a bad time for them, a bad circumstance,” Trump told the Oval Office when asked about the issue and his threat to punish any foreign country.

However, Howard Lutnik, the Minister of Commerce, then said that the European Union had later set the date of implementation of the measures, adding that “our expectation is that it will be for later”.

Trump replied, “I’m glad they were waiting.”

This duty has never been implemented in Canada or Mexico, and neither will be included in the 10% basic duty now, a White House official said.

The duties imposed on Canada and Mexico remain unchanged, according to the same source. Commercial transactions under the USMCA agreement will not be subject to duties, while USMCA trade is charged with a 25% duty.