On rough territory are the trade negotiations between United States and European Union (EU), as the US is calling for concessions that Brussels considers “unobtrusive” and “unilateral”.
According to European sources in Bloomberg, the possibility of an agreement between the US and the EU until the July 9th deadline remains open, but the most realistic version is a preliminary agreement to continue talks.
Among US requirements included:
- quotas for fish exports that may violate WTO rules,
- unilateral tariff changes, and
- Economic security requirements that the EU considers excessive.
Despite the negotiating effort, Donald Trump’s duties already cover 70% of European exports to the US – worth around 380 billion euros – and may increase to 50% for all exports from July 9. Trump is allegedly not withdrawing the duties, even if there is an agreement.
In this environment, the Commission is considering the level of “asymmetry” it can accept, maintaining a $ 95 billion counterpart in US products on the table. However, hard negotiation is expected within the EU as some Member States want a milder attitude.
Trump himself, on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Canada, expressed his discomfort over the “trade distortions” in favor of the EU, repeating his accusations of obstacles against American car manufacturers. “If they don’t make a good deal, they will pay what we say,” he said.
For her part, Ursula von der Laien has confirmed that the EU maintains all the reaction tools “on the table”, while Commissioner Maros Sefcovic is intensifying negotiations with the US Commercial Representative and US Commerce Minister.
The negotiations table are the fields of metals, automotives, semiconductors, drugs and civil aircraft, with the EU proposing a gradual removal of duties to non -sensitive industrial and agricultural products, but also to limit non -duty barriers through simplification.
However, the big issue remains how an agreement will be secured at the lowest possible cost for the European side and without affecting its tax and regulatory autonomy – something that Brussels considers a “red line”. If this is not possible, countermeasures are no longer imagined not only possible, but expected.