EU says delaying tariffs on US goods two weeks to mid-April

The EU said Thursday its tariffs targeting American goods in retaliation for US levies on steel and aluminium would start in mid-April, two weeks later than planned, to give more time for dialogue.

US President Donald Trump's 25-percent tariffs on imports of the metals took effect on March 12, to which the European Union immediately responded with two sets of countermeasures set to begin on April 1 and mid-April.

Among the US products set to be targeted were bourbon, boats and motorbikes.

Two European sources told AFP that France, Spain and Italy pushed the European Commission to delay its measures -- which have already triggered a Trump threat to hit back at Europe's wine and spirits sector with punishing 200-percent tariffs.

According to one of the sources, bourbon could potentially be withdrawn altogether from the list of targeted goods. Questioned by AFP, the commission said nothing was yet decided on that front.

The first part of the EU response involved letting levies dating from Trump's first term -- but currently suspended -- snap automatically back into place after March 31, with a second set of tariffs set to target US industrial and agricultural goods.