The EU has reverted to offering the US tit-for-tat tariff reductions on cars, with negotiators abandoning the idea of a complex “netting mechanism” first proposed by German carmakers.

EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic will head to Washington on Wednesday for tariff talks, an EU spokesperson told Reuters, adding that he will meet U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

EU trade ministers have agreed that U.S. President Donald Trump’s 30% tariffs announced on the European Union are “absolutely unacceptable,” and they are studying a new set of countermeasures to respond to the move.

The European Union could target Boeing and whiskey-maker Brown-Forman under its plans for retaliatory tariffs if the bloc can’t reach a trade deal with the U.S.

BRUSSELS, July 15 (Reuters) - The 30% tariff on European goods threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump would, if implemented, be a game-changer for Europe, wiping out whole chunks of transatlantic commerce and forcing a rethink of its export-led economic model.

The European Union has decided to hold off on imposing retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods that were set to begin Monday.

President Donald Trump expanded his tariff threats over the weekend, calling for 30% levies on two of America’s largest trading partners: the European Union and Mexico.

European markets have been on tenterhooks since U.S. President Donald Trump announced last weekend that he would impose a 30% tariff on goods imported from the EU starting Aug. 1. The EU has said it hopes to strike a trade deal before then.