The European Union has agreed to speed up trade talks with the United States in an effort to prevent a trade war, reported Bloomberg. The decision comes shortly after US President Donald Trump accused the EU of taking advantage of the US and delaying negotiations.
The European Commission on Monday said both sides are now more committed to making progress and will keep in close contact. This followed a phone call between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President Trump. “They agreed to fast track the trade negotiations and to stay in close contact,” Paula Pinho, a spokeswoman for the European Commission said.
Trump in a Truth Social post on Friday said that he might put a 50% tariff on goods from the European Union. He said the EU had been “very difficult to deal with” on trade and that the talks were “going nowhere.”
However after the call, Trump delayed his plan to impose 50% tariffs on EU goods. The new deadline is now set for July 9, giving both sides more time to talk.
So far, the discussions have faced many challenges. The EU had said that it was unclear what the US wanted or who exactly represented the president in these talks. On the other hand, the US believed that the EU was unfairly targeting American companies through regulations and legal actions.
The EU had suggested a “zero for zero” deal to Trump, which means removing tariffs on industrial products, including cars. However, the US government has said it won’t reduce tariffs below a 10% minimum that it applies to most of its trade partners. Trump had also set tariffs of 25% on steel and cars.