The planned agreement will also include preferential customs rates for specific agricultural products and seafood – people familiar with the course of negotiations informed. The European Commission, responsible for commercial policy on behalf of the entire Union, admitted that the proposed arrangements favor the interests of the United States. However, according to the chairman Ursula von der Leyen, current conversations are “a strong, but imperfect solution”, which is necessary to ensure stability for European enterprises.
However, the main part of the negotiations takes place around the automotive sector. Currently, cars and car parts from the European Union are covered in the United States of customs duties in the amount of 27.5 percent. Although last year's trade agreement assumed a reduction in this rate to 15 percent. For almost all European products, Trump clearly pointed out that without additional concessions on industrial duties and others, this agreement will not cover cars. This issue is particularly important for Germany, which only last year exported cars and parts worth nearly $ 35 billion to the USA.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the European regulatory policy, especially in the context of American technological giants such as Google or Apple. However, he did not specify whether the countries taxing digital services, which is one of the disputed points, would be covered by any sanctions. Meanwhile, the European Commission motivates its actions to avoid “customs war” that could hit both transatlantic partners.
Brussels, in order to keep the deadlines set, decided to ignore the standard assessment of the effects of the proposed changes – the procedure used in such cases. According to anonymous sources, the Commission wants to finish work on the regulations before the end of the month. As announced by Trump, if the new regulations see the light of day at this date, a reduction in duties on cars could be implemented with retrospective power from August 1.
