It is mainly an inventory of the different areas of ongoing trade policy work that is on the programme of the informal meeting of EU trade ministers in Innsbruck on Friday 5 October.
The ministers will primarily review the relationship between the European bloc and the USA: assessment of the progress made by the executive working group in the implementation of the joint statement, and also preparation of the next meeting at the end of October, to define the outline of an agreement as quickly as possible, which will then be the subject of a new negotiation mandate (see EUROPE 12092).
European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström will also report on the progress made on the issue of modernisation of the WTO, ahead of a mini-ministerial meeting in Ottawa at the end of October.
The ministers will be informed about the state of progress in ongoing trade negotiations, particularly those with Mercosur (finalisation of which is a priority for the Juncker Commission by the May 2019 elections).
A fourth point, which will deal with public opinion on European trade policy, has been added at the initiative of the Austrian Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers.
Initial exchange on US-Mexico-Canada agreement?
It is likely that the meeting will also be the chance to discuss the new US-Mexico-Canada agreement (USMCA), for which a conclusion was reached with great difficulty at the end of September. The USMCA will replace NAFTA after being ratified by the three partners.
The USMCA arouses certain fears on the European side – on one hand, because this 'success' could strengthen the Trump administration in its policy of trade sanctions, and on the other hand because certain arrangements could harm European interests in Canada and Mexico.
The agreement could complicate duty-free access to the US market for cars produced in Mexico, including by European companies. More demanding rules of origin, imposed with the objective of reviving US industrial production, provide for the progressive increase of the regional content in cars from 62.5% to 75%. Furthermore, 30% – 40% by 2023 – of a car's production will have to be carried out by workers earning $16 per hour. Some observers note, however, that tracing the parts could be so fastidious that exporters immediately dismiss this option, in the end preferring the WTO tariff of 2.5%.
In addition, while a quota mechanism in the agreement allows Canada and Mexico to avoid their cars and car parts being hit by Washington with future customs duties "for national security", this arrangement implies that US President Trump is far from rejecting the threat of new surcharges on cars.
A US-Mexico accompanying letter mentions access to their markets of a list of cheeses, a large number of which are covered by European geographical indications.
While the concessions made by Canadian diplomats on dairy quotas make certain Canadian producers gnash their teeth, it is not ruled out that the concessions could also have an impact on Europeans via the cheese quotas introduced in the EU-Canada agreement (CETA).
In return for these concessions, the Canadians have succeeded in keeping the NAFTA arrangements for dispute settlement, which the Trump administration would nevertheless like to discard. These arrangements would involve the US subscribing to the principle of respecting the rules – without directly using sanctions.
In addition, the arrangements obtained by the Americans on opening access to foreign wines in grocery stores in the Canadian province of British Colombia could also benefit European exporters. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)