LONDON – German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday warned US PresidentDonald Trump against unleashing an all-out trade war after he threatened toimpose steep tariffs on cars from the European Union.

Both sides were already locked in a “trade conflict” since Trump’s decisionto slap punitive tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, said Merkel,adding that “it is worthwhile to prevent this conflict from becoming a realwar”.

The EU has slapped tariffs on iconic US products including bourbon, jeansand Harley-Davidson motorcycles, as a symbolic tit-for-tat response to themetals duties.

Taking aim at Trump over his complaint that the EU, and in particularGermany, is running a massive trade surplus against the US, Merkel saidthat his calculation is skewed as it is based only on goods, not services.AFP/APP