The European Commission said on Thursday a negotiated trade solution with the United States is within reach - while EU members voted to approve counter-tariffs on 93 billion euros ($109 billion) of U.

Combining goods, services and investment, the EU and the United States are each other's largest trading partners by far. The American Chamber of Commerce to the EU warned in March that any conflict jeopardised $9.5 trillion of business in the world's most important commercial relationship.

Negotiations between the EU and the United States to strike a last-minute trade deal are "ongoing," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday, with only eight days to go before new US tariffs on the bloc take effect.