EU Aims for Negotiated Trade Solution with US Amid Tensions
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The European Union's first preference is to reach a negotiated solution with the United States over trade, but if discussions do not lead to a solution, the EU will respond with countermeasures, European Union Commissioner for the Economy Valdis Dombrovskis said in Washington on Wednesday.
Speaking at the IMF and World Bank spring meeting, he said the EU had already offered to buy more US LNG and to reduce tariffs on certain goods, and added that Brussels would welcome more clarity from Washington about its expectations.
Dombrovskis said the European Union is not giving up on its closest, deepest and most important partnership - its ties to the United States - which he said is an economic and trade relationship estimated at $9.5 trillion.
"The EU stands by its existing partnerships and intends to deepen them, but we will also seal new partnerships across the world to strengthen our economic security at home," he said.
He added that the EU is and will remain a reliable and predictable trading partner.
The 27-nation bloc already has trade agreements in place with 76 countries, has recently concluded talks for new or enhanced partnerships with Mexico, Switzerland and four South American countries in Mercosur, is continuing negotiations with India, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia and has launched trade discussions with the United Arab Emirates, he said.
"These trade agreements seek to establish win-win partnerships, which are reliable and rules-based," he said.
EU officials have avoided harsh language in their responses to acerbic criticism from US President Donald Trump about US-EU trade relations and have stressed the need for reliable and predictable trade relations.
On April 10, the EU put its first countermeasures against Trump's tariffs on hold for 90 days, but European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that all options remain on the table in terms of countermeasures.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Writing by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Makini Brice)
