TRADE AGREEMENT – On Monday, final clearance was given by the European Union countries with the United States after months of delay due to French resistance, in starting the formal trade talks.
The European Commission’s proposed negotiation order was clearly voted by the majority in the EU governments. France is against the voting while Belgium is neutral.
Two tracks are open for the negotiation which was coordinated by 28-member European Union known as The Commission, which organizes trade policy. First is to cut tariffs on industrial goods. Second, for companies to easier display products on meeting the standards of the EU or the U.S.
To do so, it needs the support of the EU member states.
Last July, after when U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to hold off huge tariffs on EU cars as the two sides wanted to improve economic ties, the European Union and the United States reached a negotiation.
Removing tariffs includes the “non-auto industrial goods”.
Discussion about tariffs or barriers to trade in farm products will not proceed as the Commission has repeatedly said. Meanwhile, discussion with cars are possible and is setting it on a possible collision course with Washington.
Comprehensive agricultural market access is included in the Trump administration wide-ranging wish list.
More than half the European Union is Germany’s exports of cars and parts to the United States as representatives said. It also wants to continue discussions with Volkswagen, Mercedes maker Daimler, and BMW to ward off tariffs on carmakers stated.
With a very few US car exports, France has been looking for assistance in pushing through the issue beyond the European Parliament election in May. It is convincing people that a deal with US President Trump is not a vote winner.
Climate change provisions should be featured in the talks and agriculture should not be as the country France has claimed. Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement is a hard demand given by himself.
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