The European Commission to Trump for duties: We want respect, not threats
Insisting that the European Union is engaged in achieving a deal that is profitable for both countries, Commissioner for Trade Maros Shefchovic talks with US sales representative Jamison Greer and US Minister Howard Lutnik on Friday.
The European Commission, which is monitoring the trade policy for the 27-member block, remains ready to work in good faith, Chefchovich said.
« The EU and the US trade is incomparable and must be guided by mutual respect, not by threats. We are ready to protect our interests, » he wrote in a publication at X.
The main stock indexes collapsed, the dollar fell to the main currencies, and the euro reduced its profits after Trump’s announcement for EU duties.
| « Trump is never known, but that would be a big escalation, » said Holger Schmiding, Chief Economist at Berenberg Bank. « The EU will have to react and this is something that would really hurt the US and Europe economy. » |
The threat of additional duties comes at a time when the negotiations are stagnant, with Washington requires unilateral discounts from Brussels to open up to US business, while the EU is looking for an agreement that both sides could win, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
EU leaders and ministers, who spoke after Trump’s announcement, generally supported the European Commission’s approach.
Polish Deputy Minister of Economy Michal Baranovski, whose country is the Rotary Chairman of the EU, said the threat to the myth seems to be a negotiation move.
« The European Union and the United States are negotiating, » he told reporters on the sidelines at a meeting in Brussels, adding that negotiations could continue until early July.
« The fact that we see some important statements in public space does not mean that they will become actions by the US administration, » he said.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Skoff has said the EU will stick to the path he has chosen.
« We have seen that duties can increase and decrease in negotiations with the US, » he told reporters in The Hague.
Trump has announced duties on all cars that are not manufactured in the US
French Trade Minister Laurent Saint -Martin said Trump’s new threats had not helped with the negotiations.
« We maintain the same line: de -escalation, but we are ready to answer, » he wrote in X.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told the Italian news agency ANSA that the goal remains « zero duties ».
Lists with desired
In the last week, Washington has sent to Brussels a list of demands to reduce the deficit in the trade in US goods, including the so -called « Netariff Barriers », such as by adopting American food safety standards, which would mean a decrease in European norms and eliminating national taxes on digital services.
The EU’s reaction was to offer a mutually beneficial transaction that could include both sides to switch to zero duties for industrial goods, the EU’s purchase of more liquefied natural gas and soybeans, as well as cooperation on issues such as steel production, for which both sides blamed China.
Rose
The conversation between Shefcovic and Washington was planned as a continuation of these conversations before a possible meeting in Paris in early June.
« Inflation Day »: EU has announced that it is cooking counter -meters after Trump’s duties
Robert Sokin, a senior global economist at Citigroup, said he believed Trump trying to get the EU to sit on a negotiating table.
| « With 50% duties would have a recession forecast for Europe, but I doubt they will be introduced, » he said. |
Washington says duties are intended to compensate for the US deficit in trade in goods with European Union, which was almost € 200 billion ($ 226.48 billion) last year, according to EU Eurostat Statistics. But the United States has a large trade surplus with the EU in services.
The European Commission has repeatedly stated that it prefers a solution through negotiations, but is ready to take countermeasures if negotiations fail.
