Just hours ahead of US President Donald Trump’s announcement of “Liberation Day” tariffs, Germany warned that trade wars hurt "both sides".
"The costs of a trade war do not fall on one side but can become expensive for both sides," AFP quoted government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit as saying. He also said that Berlin was "ready and willing to negotiate at the European level with the United States" to avoid such a dispute.
Key US trading partners including the European Union and Britain have already conveyed that they were preparing their responses to Trump's escalation.
Trump will unveil the levies in a grand ceremony with his cabinet members in the White House Rose Garden -- just as Wall Street stocks close at 4:00 pm (2000 GMT).
"IT'S LIBERATION DAY IN AMERICA!" Trump posted a one-liner on his Truth Social platform early Wednesday.
The 78-year-old has promised so-called reciprocal tariffs on friends and foes alike if they target the world's largest economy, saying the levies will stop the United States being "ripped off."
Trump has kept the world guessing until the last minute about the scale and scope, with the White House saying he was still "perfecting" them with just hours to go.
Reports say he could either hit countries with tit-for-tat tariffs, impose blanket 20 percent tariffs -- or, more probably, give some countries preferential treatment depending on their deficits.
Trump's long-awaited announcement is also causing global turmoil, with stock markets jittery for days and countries in the crosshairs scrambling to decide how to react.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned Wednesday that whatever steps other countries take "it will be negative anyway the world over."
America's neighbors Mexico and Canada, whose economies are closely linked with the United States, are those that could suffer the most from a bruising trade war.
(With AFP inputs)
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