ZCZC
BCN-06
US-EU-TRADE-NEGOTIATIONS
No agriculture in US-EU trade deal: official
WASHINGTON, Jan 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The EU stands firm in its refusal to
include agriculture in a new trade deal with the United States, European
Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said Wednesday.
Malmstroem met in Washington with US Trade Representative Robert
Lighthizer to work out an agreement to resolve the trade dispute between the
two economies.
While American officials have said the European Union will increase
imports of US crops, Malmstroem told reporters, “We have made that very clear
that from our side we’re not going to include agriculture, that has been made
very clear from the beginning.”
However, she said, the EU more than doubled imports of American soy beans
— sales of which have plummeted due to a Chinese retaliation in its trade
war with the United States.
US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude
Juncker agreed in July that neither side would impose any new tariffs on the
other so long as talks continued.
Washington has threatened to slap punishing tariffs on auto imports citing
national security concerns, which worries German automakers, but Malmstroem
said she continues to expect “the Americans will stick to the agreement,” and
exempt the EU from any new tariffs.
The US Commerce Department is expected to issue a report in early February
on the auto tariffs threat, but economists say would deal a serious blow to
the global economy.
EU officials are preparing negotiating mandates for a possible deal to
eliminate tariffs on industrial goods traded with the United States, which
Malmstroem said could include automobiles.
Malmstroem said it “would be very good for both sides if we could get rid
of tariffs on all industrial goods.”
Malmstroem and Lighthizer are meeting Wednesday with Japanese officials as
the three sides work on reforms to global trading rules to address alleged
unfair practices by China.
In late 2017, Washington, Brussels and Tokyo announced they were making
common cause against alleged market-distorting practices, a clear reference
to China, which Washington has accused of stealing intellectual property and
massive state intervention in markets.
The three sides are developing proposed reforms to the World Trade
Organization to address this.
“We are worried about many of the Chinese practices because there are no
real rules for that in the WTO and that’s what we’re trying to remedy,”
Malmstroem said Wednesday.
BSS/AFP/HR/0920