Germany’s Merkel hopes to avert ‘illegal’ tariffs from United States

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is backing talks aimed at averting U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs that she believes are illegal, but says the European Union will retaliate in an “unambiguous” way if it has to.

Merkel told the German Parliament on Wednesday: “We will … of course continue to back talks but if necessary take unambiguous counter-measures,” Merkel said Wednesday.