German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has warned that Europe will not give in to threats by the administration of US President Donald Trump, amid a global trade war between the EU states and Washington.

"Europe will not be threatened by President Trump. If we cede once, we will often have to deal with such behavior in the future,” Heiko Maas said in a post on Twitter on Tuesday.

"No one has an interest in having punitive tariffs, because everyone loses in the end," said the foreign minister of Europe's biggest economy.

Separately, Maas told the German public television, “We in Europe must stick together…I hope that we succeed in resolving this via consensus but we will not be threatened and climb down so easily.”

Elsewhere in the remarks, the top German diplomat hoped that a planned visit to Washington by the chief of the European Commission could prevent an all-out trade war. “It is good that Jean-Claude Juncker will be in Washington tomorrow to talk and to seek a solution but we are not heading to negotiations with a pistol at our chest. I don’t think threats bring us closer to a solution.”

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is due to meet with Trump to discuss the imposition of US tariffs on EU steel and aluminum and his threats to expand those measures to European cars.

European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told a news conference on Monday that Juncker would not arrive in the United States for talks with US President Donald Trump with a specific trade offer. “I do not wish to enter into a discussion about mandates, offers because there are no offers. This is a discussion, it is a dialogue and it is an opportunity to talk and to stay engaged in dialogue.”

Juncker will travel to Washington on Wednesday for talks focused on tensions in trade between the EU and the US.

Trump has complained about higher duties applied by the European Union on car imports and has described the 28-nation bloc as a trade “foe.”

Senior European officials in Brussels say that while EU import duties for cars are heavier than those applied by the United States, the US rates for other products, including trucks, are higher. They say cutting duties for cars can only be part of a broader trade deal.

In January, the European Union warned the US that it will react "swiftly and appropriately" if Washington wages a trade war on the 28-member bloc.

Maas, who is to visit Japan and South Korea, which are also threatened by US tariffs, said no one had an interest in new and higher tariffs. “In the end, all sides would lose, also the Americans,” he said.

Amid an intensifying trade war between China and the United States, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the US intimidation and threats "will never work" on Beijing, calling on Washington to maintain a rational attitude in dealing with related issues.

President Trump earlier this year ordered his administration to introduce new tariffs on imports from other countries.

The heavy tariffs, which were met with an international outcry, triggered a trade war with several countries across various parts of the world.

Trump, however, has welcomed a trade war with other countries, claiming such a war would be “easy to win.”