Bilateral relations with the United States and the future of the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) dispute settlement system will overshadow the Union's trade policy priorities in the coming months.
This was not a time for optimism at the EU Council's Trade Policy Committee ('TPC') meeting on Friday 13 September.
The Committee, which advises the Commission in its international trade negotiations, has once again noted an intensification of the erosion of the multilateral system, while trade tensions between Beijing and Washington persist.
To the great displeasure of Europeans, the stick policy (tariff sanctions) pursued by the American administration led Tokyo to conclude a “mini-deal” last August in Biarritz.
Due to its limited size, it may not be in compliance with WTO rules.
In addition, discussions to save the appellate body from the organisation's dispute settlement system are struggling to produce concrete results, a European source (see EUROPE 12321/15) admitted.
As for relations with the United States, progress has been made in the transatlantic partners' “positive” agenda (see EUROPE 12304/25, 12175/1) in the context of conformity assessment talks on pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, according to the same source.
Nevertheless, the difficulties encountered by European diplomacy in settling the Airbus dispute (see EUROPE 12233/15) and the forthcoming decision by the US President on the need to impose new customs duties on imports of foreign cars (see EUROPE 12256/12) are significantly tarnishing this progress.
Negotiations to liberalise bilateral trade in industrial goods are also still at a standstill.
With regard to US sanctions on European steel and aluminium exports, the Commission wants to believe that the EU has an opportunity to find a solution with Washington to abolish these tariffs, according to one source.
It remains to be seen what Washington hopes to find in the European proposal to agree to effectively change its position on the issue... (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)