With the publication in February of the results of the survey on US imports of foreign cars, the European Commission wants, as a token of goodwill towards Washington, to submit to the Member States the negotiating directives for two trade agreements (see EUROPE 12142).
"The European Commission decided to trigger the relevant procedures to submit the draft negotiating mandates to EU Member States for a conformity assessment agreement and a trade agreement with the United States to remove tariffs on industrial goods, both reflecting the goals agreed on the July Joint Statement", a Commission spokesman told EUROPE on Wednesday 9 January.
This decision comes after the meeting in Washington between Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in the framework of the Executive Working Group set up in summer 2018 (see EUROPE 12071). They both reviewed the work accomplished in implementing their trade agenda and discussed the next steps in these discussions, the spokesperson said. These will continue at the technical level throughout the week in Washington.
Mr Lighthizer should, for his part, obtain the Congressional mandate to negotiate with the EU in the coming days (see EUROPE 12134). He will then have 30 days to submit his negotiating objectives to Congress. In a letter published in mid-December, 53 agri-food organisations from across the Atlantic urged Mr Lighthizer to include agriculture in these talks, an option however excluded by the EU.
The sword of Damocles of car sanctions
The US Ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, until recently deplored the lack of “substantial progress on the trade front” (see EUROPE 12155), still threatening sanctions on European cars.
The findings of the investigation, opened by the Trump administration last May (see EUROPE 12047), into imports of vehicles and car parts, are expected to be published on 17 February. Donald Trump will then have until 18 May to decide on the levying of tariffs, which could reach 25%.
However, it is likely that the Americans will find a way either to delay the publication of the report or to suspend the imposition of customs duties, in order to use the threat of sanctions to influence their trade negotiations with Europeans and Japanese. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)