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U.S.-EU Trade Talks Stall Over Scope

Trade negotiators for the European Commission still haven’t agreed on the scope of their talks with the U.S., prompting new Trump administration threats of hefty import tariffs on cars from Europe, Reuters reports.
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Trade negotiators for the European Commission still haven’t agreed on the scope of their talks with the U.S., prompting new Trump administration threats of hefty import tariffs on cars from Europe, Reuters reports.

Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the EU, tells a business conference in Brussels that an EC proposal to limit the trade talks to manufactured goods “falls far short” of the wide-ranging review agreed to last July by President Donald Trump and EC President Jean-Claude Juncker.

The White House wants to include agricultural products in the negotiations. France opposes such discussions. Sondland warns that further delay in beginning formal talks will only make the U.S. “use leverage to realign the relationship.”

Sondland says the U.S. insists that agriculture be part of any formal talks. But he also acknowledges that the two trade blocs could develop deals on a product-by-product basis—as long as they agree to discuss the subject, Reuters says.

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