Šefčovič: The EU is also preparing for the failure of negotiations with the USA; it will offer them an increase in purchases by 50 billion euros

Bratislava – The European Union is also preparing for the possibility that negotiations with the USA regarding mutual trade will not reach a positive agreement. If acceptable solutions cannot be found, the Union is ready to protect the interests of European businesses and European citizens. This was reported on Wednesday (May 30) by the European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič at the National Council of the Slovak Republic’s Committee for European Affairs. On Thursday, he specified that the EU wants to increase purchases of American goods by 50 billion euros in order to alleviate mutual trade tensions, TASR reports.

“I must say that we are also preparing for the possibility that these negotiations will not reach a positive agreement. The negotiations are difficult, they are turbulent, and as far as we can see, we have not yet managed to find an acceptable agreement with any country,” Šefčovič said at the National Council of the Slovak Republic.

He reminded that the Union is developing relations with other countries around the world and although the United States is a significant trading partner, the largest for the EU, it represents only 13 percent of global trade. Therefore, Brussels has a great interest in cultivating relations with the remaining 87 percent, which according to him means looking for ways to reduce tariffs, to open new markets for European businesses, for European products, and for EU farmers.

In a Thursday interview with the Financial Times (FT), he stated that Brussels is making “some progress towards reaching an agreement” with the US administration, but he would not accept Washington keeping the ten percent tariffs on its goods as a fair solution to trade negotiations. This rate was introduced by the administration of US President Donald Trump in early April as a minimum customs burden on nearly all imports, recalls Reuters.

The USA imposed 25 percent tariffs on cars, steel, and aluminum from the EU in March, and in April 20 percent tariffs on other goods imported from the EU. Subsequently, they reduced the 20 percent rate by half by July 8, establishing a 90-day window for negotiations to reach a more comprehensive agreement on customs rates.

In response, the EU suspended its own plans to impose retaliatory tariffs on certain goods from the USA and proposed zero tariffs on all industrial goods on both sides.

“If what we consider to be the deficit problem is 50 billion euros, I believe that we can really solve this problem very quickly by purchasing LNG and some agricultural products, such as soybeans, or in other areas,” Šefčovič told FT.

According to the European Commission (EC), the deficit in the US trade balance with the EU, when services in which American companies have an advantage are included, is exactly 50 billion euros. (May 2)

“If what we consider to be the deficit problem is 50 billion euros, I believe that we can really solve this problem very quickly by purchasing LNG and some agricultural products, such as soybeans, or in other areas.” Maroš Šefčovič