Brussels wants to increase purchases of American goods by 50 billion euros to deal with the "problem" in trade relations, the European Union's chief negotiator Maroš Šefčovič said in an interview with the "Financial Times", quoted by the Bulgarian National Radio, adding that the bloc is making "some progress" towards securing a deal.
Despite the positive tone, Maroš Šefčovič hinted in an interview with the newspaper that the EU will not accept Washington maintaining 10% tariffs on goods as a fair solution to the trade negotiations. High tariffs are expected to be imposed on the EU and a number of countries in early July, prompting the bloc to take urgent measures to avoid a full-scale transatlantic trade war.
The United States and the EU have made progress through multiple rounds of in-person and telephone talks since President Donald Trump imposed and then suspended 20% tariffs on the bloc, Šefčovič said. He added that his "ambition" was still to reach a "balanced and fair" agreement with the White House.
Šefčovič said the key argument he had made to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was to account for US services exports to the EU, which would bring the overall trade deficit with Europe to only about 50 billion euros.
This could be resolved quickly with deals to buy more US gas and agricultural products, Šefčovič noted. The EU's chief negotiator said it was very important that Europeans and Americans now better understand each other's positions and show mutual respect.
Source: bnr.bg