EU to target US$20b worth of US goods Juncker ‘not very optimistic’ ahead of trade talks with Trump

STOCKHOLM/BERLIN: The European Commission is drawing up a list of US$20 billion (RM8.12 billion) of US goods to hit with duties if Washington imposes tariffs on imported cars, European Union trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said on the eve of her boss’s meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Malmstrom is in Washington for talks on trade, with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker due yesterday to meet Trump in a bid to stop the United States from extending its import tariffs on EU steel and aluminium to cars and car parts.

“We hope that it doesn’t come to that and that we can find a solution. If not, the EU Commission is preparing a rather long list of many American goods. It would be around US$20 billion,” Malmstrom told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter yesterday. – Reuters WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump was to meet yesterday with European Commission president JeanClaude Juncker, who has dampened hopes that their talks would resolve a festering trade dispute between the two key economies.

“I am not very optimistic. I know Mr Trump pretty well. I have met him frequently and know how to deal with him and know how he deals with others. We will negotiate as equals,” Juncker told German public broadcaster ZDF ahead of the meeting.

Juncker said the EU is “not in the dock – we don’t need to defend ourselves. We are here to explain ourselves and explore ways to avoid a trade war”.

He renewed his pledge of retaliatory measures should Trump make good on his threat to slap new tariffs on EU car imports.

“We are ready to do that,” he said. “We are in a position to respond appropriately right away.”

Trump on Tuesday crowed that it was his tough stance and threats of auto tariffs that brought the European leader to the bargaining table.

But at home, Trump is facing increasing criticism as consumers, farmers and businesses are taking a hit from the retaliation to the raft of US tariffs on steel, aluminium, and tens of billions of dollars in products from China that he has imposed in recent weeks.

“What the European Union is doing to us is incredible,” he said. “They sound nice, but they’re rough.”

But when threatened with tariffs on autos and auto parts, EU officials rushed to come to Washington, Trump claimed.

“Countries that have treated us unfairly on trade for years are all coming to Washington to negotiate,” he said in a predawn tweet. “Tariffs are the greatest!” – AFP