EU debates how and when to start trade talks with Donald Trump

EU ministers will start debating on Friday how and when to start trade talks with the United States, knowing that US President Donald Trump could impose punitive tariffs on EU car imports if the block is waiting too long.

The European Commission has asked the 28 EU countries to approve two negotiating mandates so that formal negotiations can begin. Germany wants to start as soon as possible, while France is reluctant to engage with Trump.

The United States and Europe ended a deadlock of several months last July, when Trump agreed to postpone car tariffs as both sides sought to improve their trade relations.

They pledged to work towards the elimination of tariffs on "non-automotive industrial products", to discuss ways of agreeing on product standards to stimulate trade and to increase imports of soya and liquefied natural gas in the EU.

The EU is now planning to start negotiations on tariff reductions, including possibly on cars, as well as on a set of separate talks to help companies clear their products for sale on both sides of the EU market. l & # 39; Atlantic.

Ministers in Romania will face three questions.

The first is about timing. Germany, whose exports of cars and car parts to the United States account for more than half of the EU total, wants to continue moving forward, but France is reluctant to come forward before elections to the European Parliament in May.

The second question is whether to include fishing, which is technically an industrial good. Some countries, such as France again, are worried about increased competition in this sector, already severely tested by Brexit.

The third question is what to do about the previous larger "TTIP" negotiations, which have attracted thousands of people to the streets of Europe in protest. The Commission has insisted that the lightened trade agreement it proposes is not a revival of the TTIP. An option to clarify this could be to officially terminate the TTIP.

The prices of industrial goods are already low, around 4%.

However, the Commission said that their removal would increase EU exports to the United States by 8% and US exports to the European Union by 9% by 2033, which corresponds to additional exports of 27 and 26 billion euros (29.5 billion dollars respectively).