The European Union's trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic was due to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump's top trade officials on Tuesday to try to avoid steep U.S. tariffs on EU goods as early as next week.

Donald Trump stated that he may exempt a number of countries from the "reciprocal tariffs" announced for April 2. At the same time, he announced the introduction of new charges on foreign vehicles and semiconductors.

US President Donald Trump indicated that he would impose auto tariffs in the coming days, alongside a possibility of granting exemptions for some countries based on reciprocal tariffs. The comments triggered a sharp rebound in the US stock markets as investors expected a softened tariff stance.

The European Union on Wednesday announced retaliatory trade action with new duties on U.S. industrial and farm products, responding within hours to the Trump administration's increase in tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25%.

Major U.S. retailers Walmart and Target are bickering behind the scenes with their suppliers over how much to hike prices in the wake of President Trump's tariffs. The outcome of their talks will determine when and by how much prices will rise -- and even which products stay on their shelves,

By Sruthi Shankar, Johann M Cherian (Reuters) -Wall Street futures jumped on Monday, as investors held out hope for a more measured approach to U.S. tariffs, and awaited economic data for signals on the health of the U.