EU governments are struggling to reach consensus on a mandate to begin trade talks with the US, risking a delay that would further provoke US President Donald Trump’s ire after the bloc’s refusal to include agriculture in the negotiations.
At a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels today, France is expected to resist giving the European Commission the green light to start negotiations to eliminate industrial tariffs between the regions, two officials familiar with the matter said.
The officials asked not to be named because the talks are private.
Failure to get France on board would mean the EU’s executive arm would not be given a mandate to negotiate.
The main sticking points include the role of climate and environment in the mandate, given the US’ decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and a clarification of what this negotiation would mean for the shelved Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the officials said.
A draft mandate prepared ahead of the meeting reiterated that the EU seeks trade accords only with nations that have signed up to the Paris Agreement, even though the US has pulled out.
An escalation of tensions with the US would come at a very bad time for Europe’s economy, which is already struggling amid a global slowdown.
Germany’s auto industry is already facing a tough environment of tighter emissions rules and weaker demand, and surveys show that manufacturing in the eurozone is shrinking at the fastest pace in six years.
The EU has been trying to start trade deliberations with the US in a bid to show Trump progress in enacting a political accord that he reached with commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in July last year.
That agreement helped put on hold the US threat of tariffs on European cars and auto parts.
A 25 percent US levy on foreign vehicles would add 10,000 euros (US$11,200) to the sticker price of European vehicles imported into the US, the European Commission said.
The EU in 2017 exported about 58 billion euros of vehicles and auto parts to the US.
Washington has shown frustration over the lack of progress since, with US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland saying in a February interview that “so long as the EU leadership plays the delay game, the more we will have to use leverage to realign the relationship.”
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