New tariffs will be suspended while the United States and the European Union negotiate lower barriers to transatlantic commerce. This was agreed by US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The two men met in Washington on July 25.
The two leaders also pledged to expand European imports of US liquefied natural gas and soybeans and both vowed to lower industrial tariffs, excluding autos.
Juncker said the US and European Union will “hold off on other tariffs” while negotiations proceed, as well as re-examine U.S. steel and aluminium tariffs and the retaliatory duties imposed by the EU.
“We had a big day, very big,” Trump said during a press conference with Juncker at the White House. “We are starting the negotiation right now, but we know where it is going.” Trump hailed “a new phase” of trade relations.
As reported by Bloomberg, the deal eases tensions stoked by Trump’s threat to impose new tariffs on car imports. He said the two sides would try to “resolve” steel and aluminium tariffs he imposed earlier this year and retaliatory duties the EU levied in response.
In a speech after his White House visit, Juncker said the deal may lead a reassessment of metals tariffs “in due course” after the U.S. imposed duties on steel and aluminium on national-security grounds. “We agreed that if we’re making sufficient progress on other issues this can be done from one day to another,” he told reporters.
According to Bloomberg, the truce may prove to be short-lived if the two sides can’t resolve their differences over trade in vehicles and car parts. In May, Trump abandoned a framework for trade negotiations with China within days of it being announced, before ratcheting up tariffs.
