Trade representatives for Japan and the European Union met with the US trade representative on Saturday in Brussels, in an effort to avoid a trade dispute over President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on aluminum and steel.
The European Commission is considering a preliminary list of punitive tariff on US products in response to Trump’s adoption of protectionist tariffs under the pretext of preserving his country’s national security.
Trump’s announcement of duties of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum has raised concerns among EU countries and triggered warnings of an international trade war.
“As long-standing security partners of the United States, the EU and Japan underlined to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer their expectation that EU and Japanese exports to the US would be exempted from the application of higher tariffs,” an EU statement said after the talks, as reported by AFP.
However, following the two-day talks, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem tweeted: “No immediate clarity on the exact US procedure for exemption however, so discussions will continue next week.”
The meeting held at the EU Commission headquarters included Malmstroem, Lighthizer and Japan’s Economy Minister Hiroshige Seko.
Europeans believe that they should be exempted from the tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum, while Japan calls for the need to spare it the fees, otherwise it will take “appropriate action.”
Europe, which remains united in the face of Washington, exported 5.3 billion euros of steel products and 1.1 billion euros of aluminum to the United States in 2017.
US allies and rivals have denounced since Thursday Trump’s decision, describing it as a “protectionist” turning point in US politics and an attack on its allies.
