Trump, the EU announces an agreement to avoid escalating trade tensions



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Break: President Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced a limited deal on Wednesday to avoid escalating trade tensions. At an unexpected press conference, the two leaders said the EU would buy more soybeans and liquefied natural gas from the United States than the United States and they were working at the United States. 39 elimination of tariffs on industrial products. Existing tariff plans would be put on hold, they said, while Trump 's imposed steel and aluminum tariffs earlier this year would be reconsidered. This story will be updated

Several of President Trump's key economic advisers believe that he plans to impose 25% duty on nearly $ 200 billion of foreign cars later this year said three people. ] Trump wants to go ahead despite the many warnings from GOP leaders and business leaders who have argued that such a move could hurt the economy and lead to political mutiny .

But Trump has become more and more provocative in his business strategy. and intuition and avoidance of advice from his entourage. He told councilors and Republicans to simply trust his business acumen, a point he tried to reinforce Wednesday morning in a post on Twitter

"Whenever I see a weak politician asking for Stop the trade negotiations or the use of tariffs.Tariffs, I wonder, what can they think? " Trump said Wednesday . "Will we continue and let our farmers and our country get scammed?"

Trump's business strategy and potential car rates reached a turning point Wednesday when the US president is scheduled to meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Trump said Tuesday that Juncker came to negotiate with him on trade issues, suggesting that his uncompromising stance had forced other leaders to offer concessions.

But until now there is little evidence that this commercial approach works, despite Trump's pleas. for patience and unity. The disunion within the White House and Trump's insistence on pushing car rates forward were described by three people informed about the state of negotiations who spoke about the condition of anonymity because that they were not allowed to reveal internal deliberations. Proposes two ideas to try to calm tensions with the White House, said a European official informed on the plan that spoke about the condition of anonymity to describe the EU position. One option would be to lower tariffs among all major exporting countries of automotive products, while another would be a targeted agreement between the US and the EU. to eliminate tariffs on industrial products, including cars.

Trump suggested a similar idea Tuesday night on Twitter, but he seemed to suggest that Europeans would never agree the proposal he wanted to make it appear that an agreement was still out of reach.

Trump said that imposing tariffs on foreign cars could push Americans to buy more American automobiles, thus helping American workers. But critics think that tariffs would drive up the price of all cars and pass on these inflated prices to consumers.

The United States imported a record $ 192 billion worth of new passenger cars in 2017. applies a 10% tariff on imports of US cars, and the United States imposes a 2.5% duty on European cars. The United States also imposes a 25% tariff on imports of pickup trucks and SUVs from other countries. To complicate matters further, a number of large European car companies, such as BMW and Mercedes, already manufacture many automobiles in the United States, as well as Japanese companies such as Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Subaru. a variety of options to meet Trump's insistence that cheap foreign cars flood the US market, and some of these measures would stop far from imposing tariffs, said two people during the discussions. But several Trump advisers think that he should follow the approach he's taken with steel and aluminum imports and choose the most severe restrictions and his tariffs. # 39; favorite tools, according to the three people informed of the White House discussions.

The constant coming and going of meetings, threats, tariffs and counter-tariffs has scared many Republicans, breaking the GOP and many of the business groups that have walked one. Against the other last year with Trump to reduce taxes

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) is considering introducing a bill that would make it much more difficult for Trump to enforce tariffs on foreign auto imports, showing more cracks in the Republican Party than members fear mid-term political consequences

Several months after Trump imposed for the first time tariffs on imports of 39, Steel and aluminum, the United States are now plagued by economic skirmishes with China, Japan, the EU, Canada and Mexico. and Turkey. Trump also recently complained of what he considers to be unfair business practices in India, suggesting that he could soon turn to the second most populous country in the world.

The disharmony within the White House is spreading in public view. to be bothering Trump. On Wednesday, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said at a CNBC event that Larry Kudlow and the director of the National Economic Council disagreed with the others on how to proceed but that Trump was taking his own decisions

. The president hears all the arguments, but he makes the final decision, "said Mulvaney.

Trump seems to be upset by people who question his approach

" When people cut your heels during a negotiation, It will only take more time to close a deal, and the deal will never be as good as it could have been with the unit, " he said in another post Twitter Wednesday morning "The negotiations are going really well, be cool. The end result will be worth it! "

Before Trump can impose tariffs on auto imports, the Commerce Department must conclude that it poses a threat to US national security." Several Republican lawmakers said that such a conclusion would be laughable, but the Commerce Department has the flexibility to make a decision alone.

An official from the Commerce Department, expressing on condition of anonymity to discuss from the process up to now, said the review But even with a final decision at least a month later, many Trump Republicans get nervous.

"There are some in the economic community that consider this as the bright line, "said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a Republican and former director of the Congressional Budget Office.If Trump does this, said Holtz-Eakin, many Republicans told him that they do not support the President. They are made. "

There are growing signs, however, that Trump is aware of the GOP trade criticism and is taking steps to try to suppress a mutiny.His government announced Tuesday a $ 12 billion emergency bailout to farmers facing retaliation from Mexico and China, among other countries.

Farmers asked Trump to reconsider his pricing strategy Wednesday, he did not intend to Doing it, believing it gave him the upper hand in the negotiations.

Trump's challenge was in stark contrast to what happened in the White House last year, when senior advisers prevented Trump from following suit. his protectionist instincts on trade decisions The President had wanted to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement and a trade agreement with South Korea, but he had been excluded from it. 19659028 Gary Cohn, a former senior economic advisor, was one of Trump's leaders against protectionism. that a trade dispute would threaten the fragile GOP unit that his party needed to pass the tax

But Cohn left, after leaving the White House soon after Trump announced tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Trump dismissed the more measured approach advocated by advisers such as Kudlow, Cohn's successor, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, claiming instead that an all-or-nothing stance elicits the most respect from the from foreign leaders.

The White House free trade faction is less organized than it was a year ago. Last year, there was a process for weekly trade policy meetings among the best advisors. But this process is largely halted since Cohn's departure, and there is not a broad consensus among White House officials on how to proceed.

Trump has more room to follow his own instincts. Navarro, one of his best business advisers who often clashed with Cohn last year. Navarro is a hawk who thinks that China and other countries have destroyed millions of US manufacturing jobs for decades thanks to their trade policies.

The Commerce Department held a public meeting last week and heard from 45 different groups. but we warn against these tariffs. Some outside advisors have privately urged Trade officials to adapt their restrictions so that they only concern the advanced technologies used in cars and not the cars themselves, thus creating an opening for American businesses. But Trump saw himself presenting a similar range of proposals on steel and aluminum tariffs, and he chose the most severe, arguing that it was necessary to correct this. that he considered unfair practices. "The only thing I know about Trump, is that he's not going to back down," said Steve Moore, who was a Trump economic advisor during the 2016 campaign. This means that the ball is in the hands of these other countries. "

Jeanne Whalen, Erica Werner and Quentin Ariès in Brussels contributed to this report.

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