EU 'will not enter into negotiations' with US - Malmstrom
EPA-EFE / OLIVIER HOSLET EU 'will not enter into negotiations' with US - Malmstrom
European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said on Friday that the "door is closed" on tariff talks with the United States and that the EU is "not going to enter into any negotiations" following the Trump administration's decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the union. She added the EU is preparing rebalancing measures which would impact €2.8 billion of US products, but that the list could be extended. She justified the countermeasures by stating that, while the EU does not wish to escalate the situation, "not responding would mean accepting the tariffs" which the union considers illegal.
Malmstrom also warned that the punitive measures imposed by the US "also affect the American economy as well and the American consumer and might make the US reconsider" and expressed hope that the two sides can "sit together and discuss the root causes." She pointed at Chinese policies of dumping and overcapacity as the cause of the situation, but refused to call it a "trade war" saying that "we're not there yet." The trade commissioner addressed the possibility of the US imposing a tariff on cars, saying that such a move would "create enormous damage" and be "extremely worrying." She called on other countries to submit their protest to the World Trade Organization to put further pressure on the US to reconsider the measures.
Breaking the News / DJ