The German government responded on the same day that it refused to accept the steel and aluminum tariff imposed by the United States on the 31st that the United States announced that it would levy a tariff on imported steel and aluminum from the EU on June 31st.

On April 30 this year, the United States announced the extension of the 30-day exemption period that has expired until June 1. On May 31, the White House stated that President Trump decided not to extend the exemption period. This means that the EU, Canada, and Mexico will be imposed by the United States on imported steel and aluminum tariffs from June 1.

In this regard, the German Federal Government spokesman Steffen Seibert issued a statement on the 31st, saying that the German federal government "refused to accept the steel and aluminum tariff imposed by the United States."

Saibei Te said that the German side believes that this unilateral act is "violation of the law," and the "domestic security reasons" cited by it are insufficient to support this behavior. He warned that the behavior of the US has, to a large extent, exacerbated the risk of deterioration of the situation and may eventually lead to the damage to the interests of all parties.

Seibert said that the heads of state of the European Union and the government had previously stressed the common goal of the EU countries at the EU summit in Sofia, Bulgaria, which is to seek permanent exemption for the US steel and aluminum tariffs. Under this precondition, the European Union has already made preparations for negotiations with the United States.

"For the decision that the U.S. president does not grant permanent immunity, we will now carry out a careful analysis within the EU." Saibei Te said that the EU has made necessary preparations to implement appropriate countermeasures.

Seibert finally stated that the German government will continue to work to safeguard free trade and open markets. He said that the German side will use the framework of the global steel overcapacity global forum that was promoted during Germany’s chairmanship of the Group of Twenty (G20) last year to continue to promote multilateral governance mechanisms.