The European Union plans to accelerate trade negotiations with the US to avoid 50 percent tariffs on European goods imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump. As reported by Bloomberg, the European Commission will focus its efforts on priority sectors of the economy, as well as on the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers.
It is planned to simplify regulatory procedures. European Commissioner for Trade Policy and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič will hold consultations with the US side on key sectors such as metallurgy, automotive industry, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and civil aviation. These discussions will take place in parallel with technical negotiations on trade barriers, Bloomberg reports.
The areas on which Šefčovič will focus have been subject to US tariffs before or are considered by the US administration as priorities for the introduction of new tariffs. Last week, the European Union proposed to the United States to deepen their cooperation in these areas, according to Bloomberg. At the same time, the EU continues to develop possible countermeasures in case the dialogue does not lead to acceptable agreements, the sources note.
**Initially, Trump said that due to the complexity of trade negotiations with the EU, he recommended the introduction of 50% tariffs on imports from EU countries from June 1. At the same time, he recalled that European companies would not have to pay any tariffs if they produced their products in the United States.** As the US president claims, one of the main goals of the creation of the European Union was to gain an advantage over the United States in trade. However, on May 26, Trump announced that he had agreed to delay the implementation of 50 percent trade tariffs on exports from the European Union from June 1 to July 9.