Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier and Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Svenja Schulze leave after the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin, Germany June 6, 2018. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s economy minister Peter Altmaier said on Thursday it was in the interests of the United States to find a solution to its trade dispute with the European Union, adding that the ball was in the U.S.’s court after the bloc’s show of unity.

Altmaier told Reuters on Thursday that he hoped the EU’s clear, united position in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Europe would trigger a rethink in Washington.

“The ball is now in the court of our American partners,” he said. “I believe that it would also be in the U.S.’s interests to reach an agreement.”