EU wants to restart trade talks with the US

Date:05-14-2020

The European Union is looking to revive trade negotiations with the U.S. to help bring the trade disputes between the two sides to an end. The EU is proposing a joint agenda that covers everything from aircraft subsidies and lobster tariffs to shared reserves of medical supplies.

EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan has told U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer that there is scope to reach an agreement. Before COVID-19, Hogan was optimistic a mini-deal could be reached with Washington that would address President Trump's complaints about EU trade barriers facing U.S. exports, especially agricultural exports to the EU.

Some of the ideas Brussels has looked at include reducing tariffs on car imports as well as both sides expediting their sluggish regulatory approval processes for meats and fruits.

One of the biggest barriers to potentially seeing more U.S. agricultural exports to the EU is a ten-year battle over aircraft subsidies between the U.S. and EU. Financial Times says Hogan wrote a letter to Lighthizer saying it was "becoming impossible to explain why the U.S. and EU continue to be locked in a self-defeating cycle of tariffs and mutual recriminations over aircraft subsidies."