EU response to US tariffs will be firm, quick and robust, Commissioner promises
Mr Trump threatened the EU and Mexico with a 30 per cent tariff on imports to the US from August.
The US president warned he would impose even higher import taxes if either of the US trading partners decided to retaliate.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen responded by saying the EU prefers a negotiated solution on trade with the United States, and that the bloc would extend its suspension of countermeasures to US tariffs until early August.
Mr McGrath, European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, said that negotiations have been "particularly intensive" in recent weeks and they are working to the revised deadline.
He said that EU negotiators will leave "no stone unturned" in getting the best deal possible for the bloc.
"We remain in a process and we have been negotiating intensively with the US administration for several weeks now, and that was preceded by further discussions, really going on a number of months," Mc McGrath told RTE Radio 1.
"But they have been particularly intensive in recent weeks, and we believe that progress has been made.
"We are working towards the revised deadline of August 1. We are particularly conscious of the need, insofar as possible, to remove uncertainty for businesses because we know how damaging that is to international trade, to the prospects and the investment decisions of companies, tariffs are ultimately paid for by somebody along the supply chain, most likely by the end consumer.
"We have two and a half weeks left before the new deadline within which we will leave no stone unturned as a European Union to get the best possible deal for our companies."
He said that if the 30 per cent tariff is introduced by the US, the EU has measures in place to respond.
"The European response will be firm, it will be quick and it will be robust," he added.
"We have been preparing for a range of different scenarios for many months, and so the European Union has been keeping all of the member states, including Ireland, regularly informed of developments, there have been ongoing consultations.
"I want to underline the importance of unity. What we have been doing in relation to countermeasures is preparing for different scenarios.
"There are two different sets of packages of countermeasures that amount to the imposition of tariffs of exports from the US into the EU of over €90 billion.
"We do not wish for that to come to pass, but in the event that it does, then we will need to respond if the US proceeds unilaterally with the imposition of tariffs of the order that President Trump has flagged in his letter over the weekend.
"But we have a range of instruments and tools."
He also said that the EU was in a "strong position", and that the importance of US companies accessing the European market should not be understated.
Describing it as a "an exceptionally lucrative market" for the US, he said both sides want to have terms of trade that work for everyone.
Meanwhile, Europe Minister Thomas Byrne said Ireland wants to see a trade deal between the European Union and the US agreed as soon as possible.
Mr Byrne is at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council on Trade in Brussels on Monday.
Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic is updating ministers in Brussels on the negotiations.
Mr Byrne said: "We want to see a deal between the EU and the US agreed as soon as possible, including, if possible, in advance of the August 1 deadline.
"The Irish Government strongly supports the efforts of trade commissioner Sefcovic.
"We remain cautiously optimistic about reaching agreement in principle on a framework agreement in the coming days."
Other items on the agenda at the summit include a discussion on ongoing bilateral trade negotiations and EU-China trade relations.
Mr Byrne said: "Now, more than ever, we need to expand our trade and diversify our markets.
"An ambitious trade agenda, with new partners around the globe, is in our overall interests.
"But in pursuing this agenda, we must maintain EU standards on food safety, animal and plant health, as well as remain faithful to our European values of supporting better environmental and human rights standards around the world."
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