The European Union and the United States are set to commit at a
summit in Brussels next week to end their transatlantic metals,
according to a draft communique.
The seven-page draft, seen by Reuters, aims to show concrete results
of the "new dawn" hailed by EU leaders when U.S. President Joe Biden
took over from Donald Trump in January.
The draft, which was discussed by EU ambassadors on Wednesday,
commits to ending a long-running dispute over subsidies to aircraft
makers before July 11, and setting a Dec. 1 deadline to end punitive
tariffs related to a steel and aluminum trade dispute.
Despite pressure by U.S. steel industry groups to keep the "Section
232" national security tariffs imposed by Trump, the draft said: "We
commit to work towards lifting before 1 December 2021 all
additional/punitive tariffs on both sides linked to our steel and
aluminium dispute."
Steel industry sources told Reuters the language may be aimed at
retaliatory tariffs on both sides such as those on whiskey and
motorbikes, not necessarily the underlying 25% U.S. tariffs on steel
and 10% on aluminum. A U.S.-EU deal in May to avert escalation of
the dispute left these in place while the two sides negotiate for
six months to address global excess metals capacity largely centered
in China.
Some 12 EU countries are weighing a proposal to extend their own
steel "safeguard" quotas beyond the end of June to protect European
steelmakers from a flood of imports.
Biden will meet the EU's chief executive, Ursula von der Leyen, and
European Council President Charles Michel, who represents EU
governments, and will also pledge to promote international
cooperation to fight global warming.
The EU and the United States are the world's top trading powers,
along with China, but Trump sought to sideline the EU.
Source from Reuters |