European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas questioned Washington's rationale for imposing new tariffs on European goods, saying on Friday that allegations of shortcomings in the bloc's forced labour controls were unfounded.
"You can't say that for the European Union," Kallas told Reuters on the sidelines of ASEAN meetings in Manila.
"If you compare our labour laws to those of the United States, we have paid vacations and very good labour conditions for our employees, so it's not really grounded," she added.
The Trump administration on Friday imposed new tariffs of 10 percent and 12.5 percent on goods from 60 trading partners, including the European Union, alleging lax enforcement of forced labour bans.
The move came as the US’ temporary 10 percent global tariff expired.
Asked whether the EU had expected to be included, Kallas said: "Who can keep track of the tariffs going on and off? No, we were not expecting this."
The tariffs are the latest attempt to restore President Donald Trump's campaign vision of a near-global tariff regime after the US Supreme Court earlier this year struck down the "reciprocal" tariffs he imposed under emergency powers to reduce the US trade deficit.
Kallas said the EU would seek clarification from Washington, adding that the bloc had upheld its commitments under a transatlantic trade agreement reached last year and viewed the new tariffs as an unexpected setback.
"We had a deal with America and we have kept to that deal, that side of the deal," she said.
"That's why this is a negative surprise that this agreement is not kept."
Pressure on Russia
Separately, Kallas said the European Union's latest sanctions package against Russia was intended to increase pressure on Moscow and curb its ability to finance the war in Ukraine.
"It is to deprive them of the financing of this war," she said.
Kallas argued that sanctions were already affecting Russia's economy, making it more difficult for Moscow to raise capital abroad.
"We also see that due to the sanctions, they can't raise capital outside," she said.
"It is clear that if we put this in place, it has an effect together with other elements."
The Council of the European Union on Thursday approved the bloc's 21st sanctions package against Russia over its war in Ukraine, targeting the country's banking sector and cryptocurrency networks.
Kallas said sanctions were only one part of the EU's broader strategy to pressure Russia into meaningful negotiations with Ukraine.
"We have different elements of this approach. The sanctions are just one of them," she said. "We are looking at what more we can do to pressure Russia to actually sit around the negotiation table and negotiate with Ukraine."
