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.

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.

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.