Online Reporter
PARIS. — Trade talks between the European Union and the United States are going in the right direction, the two sides’ top trade negotiators said yesterday, although the Europeans said the doubling of US metals tariffs did not help with the negotiations.
The new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports kicked in yesterday, the same day President Donald Trump’s administration wants trading partners to make “best offers” to avoid other punishing import levies from taking effect in early July.
Meanwhile, in another sign of disruptions to global trade, concerns about the damage from China’s restrictions on critical mineral exports deepened, with some European auto parts plants suspending output and German carmaker BMW (BMWG.DE), opens new tab warning that its supplier network was affected by shortages of rare earths.
In terms of tariff talks, the 27-nation EU’s trade negotiator Maros Sefcovic said his meeting with US Trade representative Jamieson Greer in Paris early yesterday was constructive.
“We both concluded that we are advancing in the right direction, at pace,” Sefcovic told reporters after the meeting. Technical talks are ongoing in Washington, he said, and high-level contacts will follow.
“What makes me optimistic is I see the progress . . . the discussions are now very concrete,” Sefcovic said. He stressed that he and Greer had agreed to restructure the focus of their trade talks, after having been “approaching it from different angles.” — Reuters.
