In the wake of the United States’ unilateral increase on 23 March in customs duties on steel and aluminium imports, from which the EU is temporarily exempted until 1 May, the “operational working method” for the forthcoming discussions between the European Commission and the US administration on the issues of global industrial overcapacity and the two sides’ trade irritants remains unclear, we learned on Tuesday 27 March from a source close to the matter in the Commission.
“(Trade) Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross had the chance to speak. The two touched base on the way forward as regards the discussion between the EU and the USA on issues of common interest, including on tackling the overcapacity. More contacts will be held in the coming weeks and member states will be duly informed throughout the process”, The Commission’s deputy chief spokesperson Mina Andreeva said at a press briefing at midday on Tuesday.
“We are entering into the stage where we will find a way of making these working methods operational and see how to take it further, bearing in mind that the first (...) issue at hand is steel overcapacity. (…) We expect the exemption (from US taxes) to be permanent. However, if our American partner wants to discuss any matter whatsoever, we are ready to do so”, Commission spokesperson for trade matters Daniel Rosario stated the previous day.
“We still have to decide on how we will work. Ms Malmström and Mr Ross spoke for an hour on Monday evening. They are discussing what the two parties will bring to the table, and when and how to discuss issues of common interest”, a source told us on Tuesday.
On her return from Washington on Thursday 22 March, Malmström indicated she was somewhat perplexed by the uncertainty surrounding the claims of US President Donald Trump who, in robust tweets, sparked controversy over access to the EU market, highlighting European tariffs on motor cars (see EUROPE 11979).
The EU is working with the United States in the Global Steel Forum, set up by the G20 at the end of 2016 and facilitated by the OECD, and in trilateral discussions with Japan to address unfair practices, notably in China, which lead to overcapacity in steel and aluminium, Malmström pointed out several times (see EUROPE 11985 and 11979).
“If you have analysed all the speeches by President Trump, he seems to think that, and I’m almost quoting him, the rest of the world is cheating the US, that we have unfair trade practices”, Malmström stated in an interview with Reuters on 22 March.
She said that the EU also had a long list of “trade irritants” with Washington, including the Buy America Act that requires federal funds for road and rail projects to be spent on American-made goods, and the Jones Act, which requires goods shipped between US ports to be transported on US ships crewed by US citizens.
“These are things that would be mutually beneficial if we can solve them, and we’re always willing to engage but we need to know what the expected outcome for May is and how serious that deadline is”, she made clear. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)