Pending the new escalation of tension between the United States and Europe, after Trump’s announcement of impose 25% tariffs to vehicles manufactured within the community territoryEuropean leaders have closed ranks against the threat. In this context, the EU Trade Commissioner, Maroš Šefčovičmeets this Tuesday with the US trade representative, Jamieson Greerto address the transatlantic trade relationship.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenon whose institution the trade negotiations depend and who negotiated the bilateral agreement with the US president, spoke from Yerevan, at the first EU-Armenia summit. “A deal is a deal. And we have a deal“Von der Leyen recalled at a press conference. He added that “the essence of the agreement is prosperity, common rules and reliability.”
The reason Trump gave, however, is that the Europeans are not fulfilling their part of the agreement. In that sense, the US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, assured that the Twenty-seven “They agreed to modify several of their regulations or grant certain flexibilities to the US, but they have not done any of that“.
“At a certain point and after having debated this issue with my European colleagues for many, many months, the president (Trump) decided that, If the Europeans are not implementing the agreement right now, we have no obligation to implement it either. in its entirety in the current situation,” he insisted before the meeting with the European side, of which no details have yet emerged.
France asks to activate anti-coercion instruments
The French president, Emmanuel Macronsaid this Tuesday that the EU should “activate” your anti-coercion instruments in the event that the United States finally imposes a 25% tariff on cars and trucks manufactured in community territory, something that it called “threats of destabilization” by his American counterpart, Donald Trump.
“I believe, above all, that in the geopolitical period we are living through, allies like the United States and the European Union have much better things to do than agitate threats of destabilization“said Macron in a press conference in Yerevan, together with the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinián, broadcast on his social networks.
The current agreements “must be respected,” Macron stressed, otherwise, he warned, all trade negotiations would be reopened. “If one country or another were threatened with customs duties, The European Union has provided itself with instruments that must then be activated, because that is its purpose“he stated. Macron confirmed that “all options are on the table” in response to possible protectionist measures from Washington, although he expressed his desire for the path of understanding to prevail.
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