European Union and U.S. kiss and make up on trade

Crunch talks between the USA and European Union have done little to quell concerns about the future of the Trump administration’s trade policy, experts have warned.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker reportedly used colorful cue cards to explain issues of global-trade policy to President Donald Trump during their meeting earlier this week.

“I know that Trump’s tariffs targeting China will have some effect, but we’re not anxious at all, since we’re producing foreign flags every single day”, she said. Farmers are not. Farmers are suffering from unfair trade barriers and chronically low commodity prices.

United States import tariffs of 25pc on steel and 10pc on aluminum imposed in March will remain in place during the talks, but Juncker added: “It is the first time that the Americans agreed to reassess the measure that they have taken in the steel and aluminum sector”. U.S. stocks and bond yields rose on signs of optimism that a U.S. -EU trade war could be avoided. But the president has changed all that, by turning American trade policy into a series of showdowns with a parade of dumbfounded world leaders, who are unsure of how to limit the political and economic damage the Trump Presidency deals them and their home economies.

Juncker, who has not spared his criticism of Trump in public or private, also clearly thought about how to break the ice and presented the president with a framed array of photographs showing USA war graves in his native Luxembourg – including that of one of Trump’s personal heroes, General George Patton.

“I was making sure they heard the message that this is not just uncomfortable, but it’s painful and damaging”, Huizenga said. Even some European politicians generally wary of the auto industry and of past efforts to ease United States trade sounded impressed. “But it’s been hard these last few weeks to see any light at the end of the tunnel”, with no signs of progress with the EU, Mexico, Canada or China.

In other words, the economy can take the small hit associated with tariffs right now in return for the sustained prosperity that will come with freer and fairer trade.

U.S. President Donald Trump accused China on Wednesday of targeting American farmers in a “vicious” way and using them as leverage to get concessions on trade a day after the administration announced a $12-billion farm aid package.

U.S. farmers have been hurt by China’s retaliatory tariffs on American soybeans amid an escalating trade fight between Washington and Beijing, and Trump has been promising relief.

Juncker said he flat out rejected such a move, “cognizant of the situation in Europe, not only in France but also in Belgium, in Ireland, also in Luxembourg and anywhere else”, he added.

In addition, he expressed the EU’s willingness to import United States liquefied natural gas and soybeans. He told reporters he entered Wednesday’s meeting with the intention of reaching an agreement with Trump.

After crunch talks with the European Commission President, Mr Trump said both sides had agreed to “work together towards zero tariffs”.

We have made it clear all along that all of our merchandise is 100% made in the USA.

There is “no link” between the tariffs and the negotiations, an European Union official said on Thursday (26 July).

Trump has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on auto imports, a move that would hit European carmakers like BMW and Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE hard, as well as Japanese and South Korean vehicle companies.

If nothing else, Constanze Stelzenmuller of the Brookings Institution said in a conversation with Today’s WorldView, “it’s the first time this president and this administration has acknowledged the European Union and European Commission as a negotiating partner on equal terms”.