Brussels, 14/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - The United States is expected to publish next week the final list of steel products exempt from prohibitive surcharges, in respect of which the European Union and other trade partners are threatening to impose sanctions. This seventh and final set of exemptions will likely be announced some 10 days before the deadline of 31 August set by President Bush, announced a spokesman for the Commerce Department. Some 10 countries have already applied to Geneva for arbitration on the protection measures, which virtually bar foreign steel from the US market. Along with Japan, the Union is continuing its preparations with a view to taking "immediate" retaliation measures if it does not secure a sufficient package of compensations from Washington. It nonetheless decided last month to grant a grace period which could keep it from having to fire the opening shots in October, without awaiting the World Trade Organisation decision on the lawfulness of the American measures. The package being demanded in Brussels initially included exemptions and compensations proper (tariff concessions on other products), but the latter element seems to have disappeared from European speeches on the issue for the last few months.