Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) – The EU will Monday urge the United States to implement more of the transatlantic trade deal struck in July, including cutting tariffs on steel, during talks in Brussels with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will join trade ministers of the 27 European Union states for the first high-level talks between the bloc and American officials since the tariff deal. Brussels and Washington clinched a deal in July for most EU exports to face a 15-percent US levy, but both sides are still pushing for additional trade concessions.
The EU wants the United States to lower its 50-percent duties on steel and aluminium, while Washington demands Brussels roll back green and digital rules. “We also recognise that more work lies ahead, especially on steel and derivatives, where we seek both to reduce tariff and to confront global overcapacity together,” EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic told reporters. The United States in August added 407 product types to a list of items considered steel and aluminium “derivative products” and therefore subject to higher tariffs. But Sefcovic played down any expectation of a breakthrough. “Today it’s not about negotiations. This is about the stocktaking exercise,” he added.
The EU is also pushing for a broader “metals alliance” with the United States to ringfence their respective economies from Chinese overcapacity. Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the talks will be a chance to discuss how to “stabilise trade relations between Europe and US”. He added it was “a great opportunity to discuss problems we have in common: the global trade system, China, etcetera”.
Some EU ministers made it clear steel was a priority. “We have to have the normal agreement on steel and aluminium, and work on it. We have to implement swiftly what was agreed back in August,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said. “Getting steel tariffs to 15 percent is part of implementing our joint statement. It’s very much in the spirit that the joint statement was prepared,” Poland’s Michal Baranowski said. Reducing the tariffs was not directly mentioned in the text published in August but the EU is seeking steel import quotas in talks with US officials.
© 2024 AFP
