Visiting Washington on Monday 24 April, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström spoke to US Trade Secretary Wilbur Ross, whom she was meeting for the first time since his appointment, about the EU's desire for more clarity from Washington on the follow-up to be given to the negotiations for an EU-US free trade agreement (TTIP). These negotiations have been on hold since the last round of technical level talks in October 2016 (see EUROPE 11654).
"For my part, there is still a case for an ambitious trade agreement between the EU and the US, the two largest economies in the world. Such an agreement has the potential to create jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. We both need a bit more time to see where we are", Malmström said after her meeting.
"From the EU's side, we would also need to clarify that both sides share an ambition to find solutions to difficult issues. And even apart from TTIP, it's very important that we now create a constructive and ambitious transatlantic trade agenda going forward", she added.
In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday 23 April, Ross made a priority of reducing the trade deficits that the US has with the EU ($146 billion) and China ($347 billion). Outside Canada and Mexico, "the three big [economies] that are the sources of our trade deficit (...) are China, Japan and Europe. So, it is logical that (...) one should focus on Europe,” Ross told the FT.
"Clearly at some point we need to do something with Europe. It seems a little weird that a car being shipped from Mexico to Europe pays no tariff as they have a bilateral [agreement with the EU] and a car being shipped from the US pays the full tariff", he added.
Malmström rewarded. On Monday, Malmström was awarded the Woman of the Year award by the Association of Women in International Trade. During her speech, she underlined the growing role of trade in promoting gender equality, a subject dealt with both in bilateral agreements and at the level of the WTO. Noting that progress in women's equality was an enormous potential economic gain, with an estimated gain of $28 trillion in additional global revenue by 2025, Malmström underlined the need to improve data and proof on the subject at the International Forum on Women in Business being held in June.
On Tuesday, she was due to meet several members of the US Senate. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)