EU nations may decide to spending an additional $56 billion on American merchandise to finish the tariff showdown with US President Donald Trump, EU Commerce Commissioner Maros Sefcovic stated in an interview with the Monetary Instances revealed Thursday.
Sefcovic, who has been main negotiations with the US administration, stated that “certain progress” had been made however the European Union wouldn’t settle for the US’ 10 p.c tariff on EU items.
Sefcovic stated that when US providers are taken under consideration, the US commerce deficit with the 27 EU nations is about 50 billion euros ($56 billion) a 12 months.
“If what we are looking at as a problem in the deficit is €50 billion, I believe that we can really . . . solve this problem very quickly through LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) purchases, through some agricultural products like soyabeans, or other areas,” the commissioner advised the FT.
Trump has stated the deficit is a number of hundred billion {dollars} a 12 months and has imposed a 25 p.c tariff on EU-made vehicles, aluminium and metal. Different items have a ten p.c tariff.
The US president initially imposed a 20 p.c tariff on EU items however this has been suspended till July and negotiators at the moment are looking for to keep away from a full commerce conflict over the tariffs if this degree comes into power.
Sefcovic stated that even a ten p.c base tariff can be a “very high” degree that the EU couldn’t settle for.
The commissioner stated that whereas the 2 sides had a better understanding of the opposite’s place, it will nonetheless be “very difficult” to achieve a deal that was “clearly good and acceptable for our member states and our European parliament”.
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
