Europe is Willing to Discuss Trade with the United States; But the Talks May Fail

Europe is ready to resume trade talks with the United States on a transatlantic trade deal. EU member states voted on Monday to open trade talks with the United States despite opposition from France, which objects to the United States’ position on climate change and could derail that final deal.

Cecilia Malmström, Europe’s top trade official, said she would continue with Trump’s management and inform them of the results. “We are ready [to start the talks] whenever they are,” she declared.

However, the dispute over agriculture may hinder the talks before they begin. The EU says agriculture will not be debated, while the United States insists it be part of the negotiations.

The divisions underscore the difficult task for negotiators, especially with the complex history of US-European trade talks. “I think the EU side would be reluctant to refuse to talk,” said a senior analyst, one of the most important lecturers at the University of Sussex.

Opposition in Paris

EU-US trade in goods and services is worth over $1.1 trillion a year. But French President Emmanuel Macron has already announced his position on the talks: Europe should not negotiate a trade deal with a country that is not part of the Paris Climate Convention of 2015.

“It is a question of values: Europe must be exemplary and firm in its protection of climate,” a spokesman for Macron said in a statement.

President Donald Trump announced in 2017 that the United States would withdraw from the agreement. Macron says it would not be fair for only one party in a business deal to follow strict environmental standards agreed in Paris. France voted against the start of trade talks with the United States on Monday but was overruled by a majority of EU member states.

While France has not been able to prevent the start of trade talks with the United States, it can block any deal it produces. All EU member states must sign trade deals negotiated by the bloc.

“This fight will have to continue, particularly in the European Parliament, without which no trade agreement can be approved after the negotiations,” said a spokesperson for Macron.

The agriculture problem

The United States and the European Union are already at loggheads over whether agriculture should be a subject included in trade talks. The EU protects its heavily subsidized agricultural sector, and at the same time, the United States wants to break tariffs and sell agricultural products in Europe.

It is a very emotional issue in many parts of Europe, where voters are afraid to open a trade deal with the United States as this might bring in genetically altered foods. The United States insists that if Europe wants an agreement, it must include agriculture.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said last month: “We’re working on other areas with the realization that there’s not going to be any [free trade agreement] without agriculture,” At the same time, EU officials argue that agriculture has never been on the table.

When European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker visited the White House last year, he and Trump agreed only to work to remove tariffs and barriers to “non-auto industrial goods.” The joint statement by the two leaders at the time did not refer to agriculture.

Increasing tension

The confrontations follow a series of disagreements between the United States and Europe on the trade subject. Earlier this week, the Trump administration threatened to impose customs duties on European goods worth $11 billion on aircraft support. The European Commission said it would seek to respond.

Trump is also considering whether to impose a tariff of up to 25% on European car imports, with a decision to be issued by mid-May.

The US President has already imposed a tariff on European steel and aluminum exports. Europe has responded with tariffs on US products worth more than $3 billion, such as motorcycles, orange juice and cigarettes.

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