EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic took part in serious talks with senior Trump administration trade officials on Tuesday to stop U.S. planned imposing high tariffs on EU exports that were scheduled for next week. These negotiating attempts cannot predict whether negotiations will succeed.
During his meeting with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett Sefcovic conducted important negotiations. President Trump maintained his planned reciprocal tariff implementation after the two failed trade talks when he faced European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic again together with other U.S. officials.
"The hard work goes on. Sefcovic underlined on X that the EU seeks appropriate reciprocal trade terms rather than unreasonable trade barriers as its main objective. The spokesperson for USTR refused to comment on the current discussions.
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The negotiations take place while different nations hurry to offer tariff deals ahead of Trump's "Liberation Day" announcement day on April 2nd for economic rejuvenation in the U.S. The press agency Reuters states that India will lower import tariffs against U.S. goods worth USD 23 billion in the initial trade phase.
Trump indicated he would provide tariff exceptions to many foreign countries although he did not elaborate on which nations these would include. Separate import duties on autos and pharmaceuticals as well as aluminum will be implemented according to the president.
EU government leaders continue to attempt without success to prevent President Trump from starting a trade conflict that would lead to major expected trade counterattacks. The European official Sefcovic observed minimal advancement during meetings after the American government applied its tariff on steel and aluminum.
"They will discuss much of the same issues they've been discussing for the past few weeks, which is EU-U.S. trade relations, and from our perspective, why we should be making every effort on both sides to avoid harmful tariffs and build rather than tear down the EU-U.S. trade and economic relationship, which is the strongest in the world," said European Commission spokesman Olof Gill.
Sefcovic has expressed the EU's willingness to discuss reducing automotive tariffs on both sides of the Atlantic, including the EU's 10% car tariff and the U.S. 25% truck tariff.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney indicated Canada is prepared to retaliate against U.S. trade actions, but is not rushing to the negotiating table. He emphasized the need for "substantive discussions" between sovereign nations.