Today's Edition
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (REUTERS)
European Union ministers agreed on Monday to prioritise negotiations with the United States to avoid threatened 30% tariffs that the EU trade chief said would wreck transatlantic trade.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would impose 30% tariffs on most EU imports from August 1, though diplomats say there is still time to hammer out an agreement to prevent this.
European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said he had sensed that talks with US counterparts were approaching "a good outcome for both sides" but the new tariff threat had created "a new dynamic".
A 30% tariff rate would make it almost impossible to continue trading as before, with enormous consequences for supply chains and negative impacts on both sides of the Atlantic.
"And therefore I think we have to do, and I will definitely do, everything I can to prevent this super-negative scenario," he told reporters before a meeting of EU ministers to discuss trade.
Despite Trump's letter, Sefcovic said he understood that US negotiators were willing to continue negotiations, though he warned that the EU would need to prepare for all outcomes, including possible countermeasures.
