Trump clarity on tariffs not what EU was looking for
BRUSSELS: Hours after European Union trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom said she had “no immediate clarity” on whether the bloc will be let off the hook from planned US tariffs, President Donald Trump laid down his conditions and repeated a threat if they’re not met.
“The European Union, wonderful countries who treat the US very badly on trade, are complaining about the tariffs on Steel & Aluminum,” he wrote on Twitter. “If they drop their horrific barriers & tariffs on US products going in, we will likewise drop ours. Big Deficit. If not, we Tax Cars etc. FAIR!"
Trump’s response came after Malmstrom on Twitter described what she called “frank” but fruitless talks with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Brussels on Saturday.
There was still “no immediate clarity on the exact US procedure on exemption”, Malmstrom, the 28-nation bloc’s trade commissioner, said after the meeting that included Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko. “As a close security and trade partner of the US the EU must be excluded from the announced measures,” she said.
Canada, Mexico and Australia have secured exemptions from the tariffs of 25% on imported steel and 10% on aluminum announced by Trump, though Canada’s and Mexico’s were conditioned on progress renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull heralded his nation’s exemption on Saturday morning following a phone call with Trump, which he described as “a very good and productive discussion”.
Trump has called the tariffs a matter of national security while threatening to tax European car imports and impose “reciprocal taxes” on countries that charge higher duties on US goods than the US now charges on their products.