The European Union and the United States made little progress this week in overcoming trade differences, Bloomberg writes, citing sources.
European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič left the meeting with little clarity on the U.S. position, trying to determine the goals of the U.S. side, according to people familiar with the discussions. His meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamison Greer in Washington on Monday lasted about two hours.
US officials said the 20 per cent “reciprocal” tariffs, which have been reduced to 10 per cent for 90 days, as well as other tariffs targeting sectors including automobiles and metals, would not be completely eliminated, the agency’s sources said.
A spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative said their office would not disclose the content of the talks. A spokesman for the Commerce Secretary did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the European Commission declined to comment.
US President Donald Trump announced a series of tariffs this month. All of Trump’s new tariffs apply to about 380 billion euros ($431 billion) worth of EU goods.
Last week, the EU agreed to delay the implementation of a series of duties for 90 days in retaliation against the US over the 25% duties Trump imposed on EU steel and aluminium exports. The move came after the US president lowered his so-called reciprocal rate on most EU exports for the same period of time.
The EU said its measures on about 21 billion euros worth of US goods would be put into effect in 90 days if negotiations fail to yield satisfactory results. The bloc is already working to prepare new countermeasures in case this scenario materialises. In parallel, it is rushing to conclude trade agreements with countries around the world and improve the functioning of the single market.
While US officials suggest that sectoral measures are here to stay, some duties on cars could be offset by increased investment, production and exports from the US, sources said. However, they suggested that it would be impossible to stop future fee increases if US exports do not increase.