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Brussels / Washington (dpa) – President of the United States Donald Trump makes blatant threats to the US-European summit over a trade dispute.
One day before talks with the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker in Washington, Trump again made it clear that he would not hesitate to introduce new tariffs if US trading partners made no concessions. ,
"Customs are the biggest!" Trump wrote on Twitter. Only "fair trade agreements" are an alternative. What it understands by "fair trade agreements", however, is not clear. At the beginning of his term, he had already suspended negotiations under the name of TTIP on the reduction of tariffs and other trade barriers between the United States and the EU.
Trump also started a trade dispute with China and other key economic partners. To mitigate the consequences for domestic farmers, the US government is preparing according to media reports now for agricultural emergency badistance in the billions.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that it was a $ 12 billion package. The measures should be implemented through the Ministry of Agriculture – in the form of direct badistance, a program for the purchase and distribution of food and food. 39, a trade promotion program. Farmers are among the biggest supporters of Trump in the United States.
Meanwhile, the EU is depicted by Trump as a petitioner. "Countries that have treated us unfairly for years are all coming to Washington to negotiate," he said shortly before the meeting with Juncker. "It should have happened several years ago, but as the saying goes: Better late than never!"
On the side of the European Commission there was hardly any information on Juncker's planned visit on Tuesday. A spokesman simply confirmed that Juncker had again spoken with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron.
The main goal of the EU is to prevent Trump from introducing special tariffs on car imports. Above all, they would affect the German economy much more than the already applicable taxes on steel and aluminum products.
Already the day before Juncker had made it known that he would go to Trump without a concrete offer. It is to "tyrannize" any tensions, said his spokesman.
Two days before the meeting, the European Commission had once again made it clear that it had little hope of reaching a quick settlement of the current trade dispute and that another escalation due to the introduction of auto imports imposed.
In the latter case, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström announced new retaliatory tariffs on US goods last week. According to current plans, these must be presented in the same way as those that the EU has already imposed on steel and aluminum in response to additional US tariffs.
Trump establishes his additional duties "with interests of national security". However, the EU believes that this is not credible and badumes that it is actually protecting the US economy from undesirable international competition.
The way in which the dispute could be settled is up to now completely blurred. According to reports from EU circles, Juncker could propose in his conversation with Trump the start of negotiations for an agreement on the liberalization of cross-border car trade.
In addition to the states of the EU and the United States, this should include other countries such as Japan, China, South Korea and Mexico. In addition, Trump is in the process of announcing a limited tariff agreement, which could be used to adjust taxes on industrial products or eliminate them completely.
The EU has recently reiterated time and time again that it was true that US tariffs on European cars were lower than EU tariffs on cars coming from the United States. At the same time, however, there are areas in which the United States imposes higher tariffs. For example, the US import duty for trucks and vans is 25%, while the reverse is only 14%.
On the sidelines of Trump's talks with Juncker, it could also be the result of the desired reform of the WTO by the United States. The European Commission had already made suggestions in an internal document earlier this month. These measures include a more targeted WTO approach against subsidies and the forced transfer of technology. In particular, China will now be prevented from engaging in anti-competitive practices.
The goal is also to make the dispute settlement procedures between WTO members more efficient. For example, according to the European Commission, the number of members of the WTO Appellate Body could be increased from seven to nine.
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