ZCZC
BCN-31
EU-US-TRADE-AUTO-MALMSTROM
EU ready to scrap auto tariffs with US
BRUSSELS, Aug 31, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The European Union is prepared to scrap
tariffs on cars with the United States in its proposed trade deal with
Washington, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said Thursday.
“We are willing to bring down … our car tariffs to zero, all tariffs to
zero if the US does the same,” Malmstrom told members of the European
Parliament meeting in Brussels.
“It has to be reciprocal. If that would happen, it would be good for us
economically and good for them,” she said in comments that shifted from an
earlier position.
At the White House in July, US President Donald Trump and European
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker pledged to work towards a limited
trade accord that would eliminate transatlantic customs duties, but excluded
the automobile sector.
The White House meeting defused a trade dispute that erupted after the US
slapped tariffs on EU metals imports in June despite a months-long effort by
top EU leaders and officials to appease Trump.
Senior officials, led by Malmstrom on the European side and by US Trade
Representative Robert Lighthizer for Washington, have been tasked with
drawing the outlines of this agreement over the coming weeks.
“On the timetable … Obviously we would seek to try to finalise this
during the mandate of the Commission (which ends in autumn 2019),” Malmstrom
said.
If negotiations are “limited … I think that can be done,” she said.
Malmstrom also insisted that whatever deal was reached would fall well
short of the ambitions of the TTIP talks, an earlier attempt by Brussels and
Washington to reach a wide-ranging trade deal that collapsed after the
protectionist Trump took office.
BSS/AFP/HR/1025