The European Union warned that only one month is left to resolve a metals dispute with the U.S., otherwise new EU tariffs will hit American products starting Dec. 1.

An agreement must happen by the beginning of November in order to avoid consequences, said EU trade commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, on Bloomberg Television. "We are now working very intensively to resolve this Trump-era steel and aluminum dispute," Dombrovskis said. "Time is, in a sense, running out."

The conflict started in 2018 when the Trump administration imposed tariffs on steel (25%) and aluminum (10%) imports from the EU, citing "national security," according to Reuters.

The EU retaliated by targeting 2.8 billion euros ($3.4 billion) of American imports with tariffs on a range of big-brand products, including Harley-Davidson Inc. motorcycles, Levi Strauss & Co. jeans and bourbon whiskey, Bloomberg states.

However, Dombrovskis is confident the conflict can be resolved. "So, I think that we can be moderately optimistic about being able to resolve this dispute and find this solution and not continue this Trump-era approach of confrontation," he told an audience at John Hopkins University in Washington.

Officials from the Biden administration and the EU are set to meet in Pittsburgh today for a discussion on the ongoing dispute over aluminum and steel tariffs.