(AFP) – The United States must respect its tariff agreement with the EU, the bloc’s trade chief told his American counterpart Tuesday, after President Donald Trump threatened to hike levies on European cars. The European Union and the United States struck a deal last July setting tariffs on most EU goods at 15 percent, but Trump has vowed to raise duties on cars and trucks to 25 percent.
Top EU trade negotiator Maros Sefcovic held talks in Paris Tuesday with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, during which he urged Washington to stick to the terms of the 2025 agreement. “He called for a swift return to the agreed Turnberry terms, ie a 15 percent all-inclusive tariff rate,” an EU spokesperson said after the 1.5-hour talks on the sidelines of a G7 trade ministers’ meeting in Paris.
The European Parliament has given conditional approval to the trade pact, but a final version still needs to be agreed with the bloc’s member states — prompting frustration in Washington. Greer has complained about a “very slow” EU approval process as well as amendments that would “limit the deal.” “The president decided that if the Europeans aren’t implementing the deal right now, then we don’t have to implement all of it either at this time,” Greer said Monday. EU negotiators from the parliament and capitals are due to meet Wednesday but officials cautioned against expecting a final agreement.
The European Commission, which leads trade policy for the 27-nation EU, has made clear it is keeping its options open should Trump’s new car tariffs kick in, without speculating on what action it might take. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc is “prepared for every scenario”, while rejecting Trump’s charge the bloc was failing to comply with the trade accord. “A deal is a deal, and we have a deal,” the European Commission president told reporters in Yerevan Tuesday. “We are both implementing this deal while respecting the different democratic procedures we have on both sides.”
– Macron demands ‘bazooka’ –
French President Emmanuel Macron, also in Armenia on a state visit, said Tuesday the bloc should be ready to activate its powerful anti-coercion instrument (ACI) if Trump hikes car tariffs as promised. Slamming the US president for brandishing “threats of destabilisation”, Macron said the EU had “equipped itself with instruments that would then have to be activated, because that is precisely what they are for”.
Key EU power France has repeatedly pressed for the bloc to unleash the potent ACI trade tool, should Trump make good on successive trade threats aimed at European countries. The EU has never deployed the instrument, aimed at dissuading countries from exerting geopolitical pressure on the bloc. Dubbed the EU’s “bazooka”, it allows for a range of responses from tariffs on US goods to curbs on the export of strategic goods and the exclusion of American firms from tenders in Europe.
The commission insists it remains committed to the trade deal. “On the European Union side, we are now in the final stages of implementing the remaining tariff commitments,” said von der Leyen. “At the same time, the US has the commitment — for example where alignment with the agreed ceiling is still outstanding,” she said. “So we want from this work mutual gain, cooperation and reliability — and we are prepared for every scenario.”
© 2024 AFP
