July 12 (Reuters) - The European Union said on Saturday it was ready to retaliate to defend its interests if the United States pressed ahead with imposing a 30% tariff on European goods from August 1.

Makers of the most advanced artificial intelligence systems face obligations for transparency, copyright protection and public safety. The rules are not enforceable until next year.

TikTok is facing a fresh European Union privacy investigation into user data transferred to China. The Irish Data Protection Commission opened the inquiry as a follow up to a previous investigation that ended earlier this year with a 530 million euro fine.

The EU is prepared to take the necessary steps to safeguard its interests if the U.S. proceeds with imposing a 30% tariff on European goods starting Aug 1, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday.

President Donald Trump has posted two new letters on his social media platform announcing tariffs on the European Union and Mexico.

President Donald Trump posted letters to the leaders of Mexico and the European Union, saying they had not done enough to head off the new tariffs.

Migration into the European Union pushed its population to a record 450.4 million people last year, offsetting a natural population decline for the fourth straight year, EU data released on Friday showed.