BRUSSELS: The European Union (EU)’s prime commerce negotiator Maros Sefcovic is jetting to Washington on Wednesday (Jul 16) for talks along with his United States counterparts because the bloc renews its push to settle the transatlantic tariffs standoff.
“Sefcovic is flying to DC this afternoon, for separate in-person conferences” with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Commerce Consultant Jamieson Greer, mentioned European Fee commerce spokesman Olof Gill.
President Donald Trump threw months of EU-US talks into disarray on the weekend by threatening a 30 per cent levy on European items from Aug 1 if the transatlantic allies do not strike a deal.
Main as much as Saturday’s missive, Brussels thought it was on the cusp of closing a cope with Washington, however EU officers stay hopeful they will attain an settlement by the tip of the month.
A technical group from the European Fee – which leads on commerce for the 27-country bloc – had already travelled to Washington this week for extra talks with US officers.
The EU has till now sought to sort out commerce tensions with the US by means of negotiations however has ready retaliatory tariffs if no deal is made.
