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.

At present, there are no tariffs on either sector while the US holds an investigation on national security grounds into imports of those goods. However, indications are that the investigation may result in the EU seeing a 15% tariff imposed on both pharmaceuticals and computer chips once the process concludes.

The European Union plans to quickly hit the US with 30% tariffs on some €100 billion ($117 billion) worth of goods in the event of no deal and if US President Donald Trump carries through with his threat to impose that rate on most of the bloc’s exports after Aug.