"Closed-door Meeting of EU Member State Ambassadors
Final Position Expected to Be Decided This Weekend"
The European Union (EU) is reportedly considering reaching a provisional trade agreement with the United States while maintaining the current basic tariff of 10%.
According to Politico Europe on July 4 (local time), multiple sources said that the European Commission shared the outcome of Maros Sefcovic, the EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security’s recent visit to the United States during a closed-door meeting with ambassadors from the 27 member states, and discussed this approach.
Commissioner Sefcovic met again with his counterparts, including Jamison Greer from the United States Trade Representative (USTR), in Washington, D.C. the previous day, but it appears that the results did not meet expectations.
As a result, it is interpreted that the EU considers maintaining the current tariffs?10% on basic goods, 25% on automobiles, and 50% on steel and aluminum?as a preferable option. This is similar to the approach taken by the United Kingdom, which has concluded a comprehensive trade agreement with the United States.
The Commission believes that for trading partners who sign a provisional agreement with the United States before July 9, which marks the expiration of the negotiation deadline and the implementation of country-specific reciprocal tariffs, the current tariff levels could be 'temporarily suspended' with the possibility of future reductions left open.
If an agreement is not reached, it is expected that the country-specific reciprocal tariffs announced by President Donald Trump on April 2 will be applied. At that time, the EU tariff rate was announced as 20%, but President Trump later warned in May that he would impose a 50% tariff, citing slow progress in negotiations with the EU.
Despite intensive negotiations, the EU is reportedly still struggling to find an acceptable scope for an agreement, and disagreements among member states persist.
As a result, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen plans to hold individual discussions with the leaders of EU member states over the weekend before finalizing the EU’s position. According to two EU diplomats cited by Politico, President Trump is also scheduled to hold internal consultations on July 7, making it likely that the final results of the U.S. trade negotiations will be announced after that.
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