WASHINGTON?President Bush and European leaders sought to avoid touching off trans-Atlantic trade wars on Thursday but failed to reach an agreement on steel or other disputes.

Both Bush and the European leaders stressed that they would intensify their efforts to find solutions for various contentious trade issues, including steel and a $4 billion U.S. tax break that the World Trade Organization has ruled as illegal.

On the tax break for exporters, Bush said he had given the EU officials assurances that “I will work with our Congress to fully comply with the WTO decision.”

The administration is hoping that it will be able to avoid the imposition of penalty tariffs on U.S. exports to Europe in what is the largest trade case the United States has lost before the WTO.

The WTO is scheduled to rule next month on the level of those tariffs. The EU is seeking to impose 100 percent duties on $4 billion of U.S. exports.