BRUSSELS — The European Commission said on Saturday that Europe was prepared to retaliate against President Donald J. Trump’s plan to double tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, raising the prospect of an escalating trade fight between two of the world’s largest economic powers.

Mr. Trump’s announcement on Friday that he would increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50% from 25%, intensifies his global trade war and came just hours after he accused China of violating an agreement with the US to mutually roll back levies and trade restrictions for critical minerals.

The European Commission said it “strongly” regrets Trump’s plan to increase tariffs, adding it “undermines ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated solution.”

“This decision adds further uncertainty to the global economy and increases costs for consumers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic,” a European Commission spokesperson said, adding that “the (European Union) is prepared to impose countermeasures.”

The spokesperson noted that the European Union (EU) had paused its countermeasures to create space for continued negotiations.

“The European Commission is currently finalizing consultations on expanded countermeasures. If no mutually acceptable solution is reached, both existing and additional EU measures will automatically take effect on 14 July — or earlier, if circumstances require,” the spokesperson added.

Mr. Trump announced the higher tariffs just outside Pittsburgh, where he was talking up an agreement between Nippon Steel and US Steel. Trump said the $14.9-billion deal, like the tariff increase, will help keep jobs for steel workers in the US.

He later posted on social media that the increased tariff would also apply to aluminum products and that it would take effect on Wednesday.

The planned US move ratchets up pressure on global steel producers, and has sparked protests from trading partners around the world.

Canada’s Chamber of Commerce quickly denounced the tariff hike as “antithetical to North American economic security.”

“Unwinding the efficient, competitive and reliable cross-border supply chains like we have in steel and aluminum comes at a great cost to both countries,” Candace Laing, president of the chamber, said in a statement.

Canada’s United Steelworkers union on Saturday called the move a direct attack on Canadian industries and workers.

Australia’s center-left government also condemned the tariff increase, with Trade Minister Don Farrell calling it “unjustified and not the act of a friend.”

The US is the world’s largest steel importer, excluding the EU, with a total of 26.2 million tons of imported steel in 2024, according to the Department of Commerce. As a result, the new tariffs will likely increase steel prices across the board, hitting industry and consumers alike.

Steel and aluminum tariffs were among the earliest put into effect by Mr. Trump when he returned to office in January. The tariffs of 25% on most steel and aluminum imported to the US went into effect in March, and he had briefly threatened a 50% levy on Canadian steel but ultimately backed off. — Reuters

CAIRO/JERUSALEM — Hamas said on Saturday it was seeking amendments to a US-backed proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Israel in Gaza, but President Donald J. Trump’s envoy rejected the group’s response as “totally unacceptable.”

The Palestinian militant group said it was willing to release 10 living hostages and hand over the bodies of 18 dead in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. But Hamas reiterated demands for an end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, conditions Israel has rejected.

A Hamas official described the group’s response to the proposals from Mr. Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff as “positive” but said it was seeking some amendments. The official did not elaborate on the changes being sought.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that while his government had agreed to Witkoff’s outline, Hamas was continuing its rejection of the plan. “Israel will continue its action for the return of our hostages and the defeat of Hamas,” he said in a statement.

Hamas said in a statement: “This response aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to our people in the Strip.”

The document containing Hamas’ response, seen by Reuters, demands that Gaza residents be allowed unrestricted travel through the Rafah crossing and that the movement of goods be resumed.

It calls for restoring Gaza’s infrastructure, including electricity, water and sanitation, and seeks permission for building materials needed to repair hospitals, health centers, schools, and bakeries across the strip.

Under the Hamas plan, which the document says is guaranteed by Mr. Trump and mediators Egypt and Qatar, Israel would stop all military activity in Gaza when the ceasefire agreement goes into effect, and aid would be delivered by the United Nations (UN), the Red Crescent and other agreed channels.

The Palestinian group said it would provide information about the number of living and deceased Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange for details about Palestinian prisoners detained since Hamas attacked on Oct. 7, 2023.

“President Trump will personally announce the ceasefire agreement. The US and President Trump are committed to ensuring serious negotiations until a final agreement is reached,” the document says.

The proposals envisage a 60-day truce and the exchange of 28 of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza for more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, along with the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim denied any rejection of Mr. Witkoff’s proposal but said Israel’s response was incompatible with what had been agreed. He accused the US envoy of acting with “complete bias” in favor of Israel.

A Palestinian official familiar with the talks told Reuters that among the amendments Hamas is seeking is the release of the hostages in three phases over the 60-day truce and more aid distribution in different areas. Hamas also wants guarantees the deal will lead to a permanent ceasefire, the official said.

Israel has previously rejected Hamas’ conditions, instead demanding the complete disarmament of the group and its dismantling as a military and governing force, along with the return of all 58 remaining hostages.

Mr. Trump said on Friday he believed a ceasefire agreement was close after the latest proposals, and the White House said on Thursday that Israel had agreed to the terms.

Saying he had received Hamas’ response, Mr. Witkoff posted on X: “It is totally unacceptable and only takes us backward. Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week.”

On Saturday, the Israeli military said it had killed Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas’ Gaza chief on May 13, confirming what Mr. Netanyahu said earlier this week.

Sinwar, the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the group’s deceased leader and mastermind of the October 2023 attack on Israel, was the target of an Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza. Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied his death.

The Israeli military, which relaunched its air and ground campaign in March following a two-month truce, said on Saturday it was continuing to hit targets in Gaza, including sniper posts and had killed what it said was the head of a Hamas weapons manufacturing site.

The campaign has cleared large areas along the boundaries of the Gaza Strip, squeezing the population of more than 2 million into an ever-narrower section along the coast and around the southern city of Khan Younis.

Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies entering the enclave at the beginning of March in an effort to weaken Hamas and has found itself under increasing pressure from an international community shocked by the desperate humanitarian situation the blockade has created.

On Saturday, aid groups said dozens of World Food Programme (WFP) trucks carrying flour to Gaza bakeries had been hijacked by armed groups and subsequently looted by people desperate for food after weeks of mounting hunger.

“After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by,” the WFP said in a statement.

‘A MOCKERY’
The UN said on Friday the situation in Gaza is the worst since the start of the war 19 months ago, with the entire population facing the risk of famine despite a resumption of limited aid deliveries earlier this month.

“The aid that’s being sent now makes a mockery of the mass tragedy unfolding under our watch,” Philippe Lazzarini, head of the main UN relief organization for Palestinians, said in a message on X.

Israel has been allowing a limited number of trucks from the WFP and other international groups to bring flour to bakeries in Gaza but deliveries have been hampered by repeated incidents of looting.

A separate system, run by a US-backed group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), has been delivering meals and food packages at three designated distribution sites.

However, aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF, which they say is not neutral, and say the amount of aid allowed in falls far short of the needs of a population at risk of famine. 

Israel denies operating a policy of starvation and says it is facilitating aid deliveries, pointing to its endorsement of the new GHF distribution centers and its consent for other aid trucks to enter Gaza.

Instead it accuses Hamas of stealing supplies intended for civilians and using them to entrench its hold on Gaza, which it had been running since 2007. Hamas denies looting supplies and has executed a number of suspected looters.

Israel began its offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and saw 251 taken as hostages into Gaza.

The campaign has laid waste large areas of the Gaza Strip, killing more than 54,000 Palestinians and destroying or damaging most of its buildings, leaving most of the population in makeshift shelters. — Reuters

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is considering visiting Washington to meet President Donald J. Trump before a mid-month summit of the Group of Seven (G7) nations as he seeks a trade deal, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Sunday.

Japanese officials see signs of progress on easing Trump’s tariffs after repeated visits by top tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa, and say the US side has shown strong interest in Japan’s proposals, the Yomiuri said, citing Japanese government officials it did not name.

Economy Minister Akazawa will return to Washington for more talks late this week, after which a decision will be made on a US trip by Mr. Ishiba, the newspaper said.

The White House and the Japanese Prime Minister’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours.

Japan, a major US ally, faces a 24% tariff from next month unless it can negotiate a bilateral deal. It is also scrambling to find ways to get Washington to exempt its automakers from 25% tariffs on automobiles, Japan’s biggest industry.

Some Japanese government officials hope an agreement can be announced in time for President Trump’s birthday on June 14, the Yomiuri said.

Mr. Akazawa, after meeting Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, said on Friday the two sides had “agreed to accelerate the talks and hold another round ahead of the G7 summit,” to be held from June 15 to 17 in Canada.

But he said there would be no deal without US concessions on tariffs, including on autos.

Mr. Ishiba has said bilateral negotiations were progressing on trade expansion, non-tariff measures and economic security, while Tokyo has mentioned possible increases in its purchases of US military equipment and energy, as well as cooperation on shipbuilding and repairing US warships in Japan. — Reuters