Tariffs, EU technicians in the US to negotiate. Commission: “We want agreement by 1 August”

Brussels – Avoid a trade war at all costs. The European Commission continues, in a race against time, its efforts to find an alternative to the US 30 per cent tariffs on EU goods, which are set to take effect on 1 August, and remains engaged in the negotiating process. Despite the letter being sent to Brussels with the intention of implementing twelve-star export surcharges, negotiations are ongoing, as the EU executive still believes in them. “We would not negotiate if we thought a deal was not possible,” explains Olof Gill, the Commission spokesman responsible for trade issues. 

This is why the Trade Commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, held telephone talks yesterday (14 July) with the US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, and today (15 July) he also spoke with the US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer. These active channels of communication demonstrate the European desire to avoid the worst-case scenario: an open trade war. This is the reason that led the EU executive to send its own technicians to Washington, and could bring Sefcovich himself back to the US capital. 

The EU does not say and does not intend to do more than this. The second list of countermeasures, valued at 72 billion, has been defined and is now being considered by member states for approval. In any case, the Commission spokesman confirms, there’s no intention to trigger any countermeasures while the negotiations are ongoing. It is felt that this could undermine the spirit of dialogue and divert attention away from a negotiation that Europeans are aiming for with conviction and determination. “We want an agreement in principle by 1 August,” Gill further emphasises. The European Commission is not giving up, after all, this is the mandate received from the member states.