The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, will travel to Washington on 25 July to try to convince the American President, Donald Trump, to give up on the idea of raising tariffs on imports of cars and to ease transatlantic trade tensions, but not to negotiate, the Commission and member states agreed at a meeting of the ambassadors of the Twenty-Eight (Coreper) on Wednesday 18 July, according to a source close to the dossier.
“Juncker is not going to Washington to negotiate, he has no clear mandate. He's going to try to convince Trump not to tax cars. To discuss facts and provide a little education, but with no great illusions that he will succeed”, the source explained to us.
According to the European approach, the aim is to explore the options to de-escalate trade tensions, on the basis of the four-point plan agreed by the European leaders on 17 May, which includes talks on tariff liberalisation for industrial products (including cars) and on the opening-up of the public procurement markets, voluntary regulatory cooperation, increased cooperation on energy and LNG and WTO reform (see EUROPE 12022).
Discussions on this 'positive agenda' to improve the transatlantic trade climate remain conditional on the removal of the American taxes on imports of steel and aluminium slapped on European producers since 1 June, the Commission and the member states have agreed.
“Overall, the EU is united on the need for a firm and consistent reaction and not to negotiate under pressure. Everybody supports Juncker's trip to Washington, but it is not to negotiate. There is no clear mandate beyond the Sofia plan”, the source added.
Germany called for all options to remain open, particularly the one referred to recently by the Commission, consisting of negotiating a plurilateral agreement for tariff liberalisation on vehicles with the US and other car-exporting third countries.
France raised concerns that Trump could put agricultural products in the balance along with tariffs on cars.
Several delegations counselled “caution” concerning short-term solutions that could be harmful in the long run.
On 18 July, Juncker reiterated the EU's determination not to bow to Trump's “provocations”, reaffirming its unity in trade matters.
“I demonstrated my global approach at the latest meeting of the G7 in Canada. Because I repeated the European arguments to the American President. I will continue to repeat them again and again. It is not fake news but objective facts”, Juncker stressed.
Following the entry into force, on 1 June, of American customs duties on imports of steel and aluminium from the EU, the G7 summit of Charlevoix (Canada) on 8 and 9 June threw into sharper relief the disagreements in trade matters between Europeans and Americans, for instance on the question of the American trade deficit (see EUROPE 12038).
After the EU's rebalancing measures in response to the increase in American customs duty on steel and aluminium products entered into force on 22 June, Trump threatened to slap 20% duty on imports of cars from the EU (see EUROPE 12047, 12049).
At the end of June, the EU warned Washington against the disastrous consequences of increasing tariffs on imports of cars, also criticising the lack of legitimacy and basis for this investigation, in comments on the American investigation launched under section 232 for national security reasons (see EUROPE 12053).
According to a Community source, the EU is already looking at a list of American products to tax in the event of customs duty on cars. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)