Under pressure from Trump, European Union rushes to reduce tariffs on US products

Flags of the European Union
Stephanie Lecocq/Reuters
European Union negotiators are expected to reach an agreement this Tuesday (19) to eliminate import tariffs on products from the United States.
The measure seeks to put into practice the trade agreement reached last year and prevent President Donald Trump from imposing higher tariffs on European products.
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As per the agreement signed in July Last year at Trump's golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland, the European Union committed to zeroing tariffs on American industrial products and facilitating the entry of US agricultural and fishing products.
In exchange, the United States would start charging a 15% tariff on most European products.
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Almost 10 months later, however, the agreement still depends on the approval of a legal text by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, the body that represents the bloc's governments.
The main point of divergence is the creation of protection mechanisms in case Trump decides to abandon the commitment.
Representatives of Parliament and the Council meet this Tuesday in a decisive round. Parliamentarians involved in the negotiations say that the expectation is to conclude an understanding by the end of the day or in the early hours of Wednesday.
Trump stated that he could impose even higher tariffs on European products, including automobiles, if the European Union does not fulfill its part by July 4. The president had already threatened to raise the tariff on European cars from 15% to 25%.
The proposal's processing was interrupted twice by European parliamentarians.
The pauses occurred after Trump's threats to surcharge allies who did not support his proposal to purchase Greenland and after the United States Supreme Court annulled his global tariffs.

Source: G1