The United States will start charging 30% tariffs on August 1 on products coming into the country from the European Union, President Donald Trump confirmed Saturday.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to impose new 30% tariffs on Mexico and the European Union effective from Aug. 1, launching the latest salvo in his ongoing trade war.

"The EU and China are broadly on a colliding trajectory in terms of their trade and industrial policy concerns," he told CNBC. Bones of contention include the challenge of China's overcapacity and trade diversion to Europe, Stec, who is also head of the Mercator Institute's Brussels office, explained.

The European Union braced on Friday to receive a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump, outlining planned duties on his largest trade and investment partner after a broadening of his tariff war in recent days.

Japan, which Trump said Monday faces a 25% tariff, wants concessions for its large automobile industry and will not sacrifice its agriculture sector for an early deal, top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said.

It is worth nothing that the effective tariff rate being imposed by the US on the rest of the world is now about 15%, having been between 2% and 4% for the past 40 years. This is before the further changes in these letters. The market reaction is calm for now. It might not stay that way.

The European Union is working to avoid new U.S. tariffs that President Trump announced for various countries. EU sources suggest potential exemptions and limited concessions, especially benefiting German carmakers,

Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg’s daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union.