President Trump told British Prime Minister Theresa May this week that he has not made a final decision on whether to put tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, according to The New York Times.
Trump reportedly made the comments during a phone call with May on Sunday.
A Downing Street spokeswoman on Sunday said the prime minister told the president that “multilateral action was the only way to resolve the problem of global overcapacity in all parties’ interests.”
{mosads}A source told the Times that Trump said he disagreed with May.
Trump caught the international community off guard last week when he said he would slap a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum. {mosads}
Critics have said the action, which has put the U.S. at odds with some of its major allies, could lead to a trade war.
The issue is of concern to the United Kingdom due to the country’s steel industry.
“This would be a unilateral, and extremely blunt, approach to what is a complex global problem of overcapacity in the steel sector,” Richard Warren, head of policy at U.K. Steel, said in a statement.
The European Union also responded, saying they would consider placing tariffs on U.S. goods such as Levi’s jeans, Harley-Davidson motorcycles and bourbon.
Trump responded in a tweet last week.
The World Trade Organization’s Director-General Roberto Azevêdo condemned the move, saying it could result in a trade war.
“In light of recent announcements on trade policy measures, it is clear that we now see a much higher and real risk of triggering an escalation of trade barriers across the globe. We cannot ignore this risk and I urge all parties to consider and reflect on this situation very carefully,” Azevêdo said.