EU trade chief still in doubt what Trump wants to exempt Europe from steel tariffs

[April 12, 2018]  COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - It is still unclear what Washington wants in return for a permanent EU exemption from steel tariffs, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said on Thursday.

 European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 15, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo

"We are still in doubt," Malmstrom said during a visit in Copenhagen.

U.S. President Donald Trump has given the EU and six countries until May 1 to negotiate permanent exemptions from tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum.

Malmstrom said she had not received any new deadline but holds "regular discussions" with U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on the issue.

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Alison Williams)

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