Trump team has not said what it wants in trade talks, says EU

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The US has not told the EU what it wants to lift trade tariffs, the European Commission said, after a two-hour meeting between the two sides’ trade negotiators made little progress.

EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič met commerce secretary Howard Lutnick on Monday to discuss how to remove the so-called reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US, along with steel, aluminium and car levies, but the US side failed to set out its demands.

“We need to hear more from the Americans. We need to have a clearer idea of what their preferred outcomes are in these negotiations,” said EU trade spokesman Olof Gill on Tuesday. 

Gill said Šefčovič had repeated an offer to mutually drop all industrial goods tariffs.

“The EU is doing its part. Now, it is necessary for the US to define its position. As with every negotiation, this must be a two-way street . . . with both sides bringing something,” he said. 

The White House and commerce department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The US listed a long set of grievances when it imposed, then paused, reciprocal tariffs on much of the world this month. But calculations were based on the trade surplus in goods between them and the US. The EU was given 20 per cent, based on the $235bn goods surplus it had in 2024.

Donald Trump has said the EU should buy more liquefied natural gas, which Brussels has agreed to in principle.

The US president has also attacked the EU for not buying enough cars and “non-tariff barriers” that exclude US chicken rinsed with chlorine-based chemicals, and beef from cattle fed hormones. He has railed against VAT, and its digital regulation.

Within days of imposing the tariffs Trump dropped them and only applied a 10 per cent levy for almost all countries for 90 days, while encouraging partners to seek deals to reduce the duties permanently.

But on Monday he also instructed officials to prepare fresh measures against semiconductor and pharmaceutical products. Šefčovič reiterated the importance of resilient transatlantic supply chains in those sectors, Gill said. 

Gill said the meeting was a “focused scoping” session, with the zero tariff plan and the global overcapacity in steel and aluminium industries also covered. 

But he added that food safety standards were “sacrosanct”.

“The commissioner reiterated that the EU and the US share many challenges and could address them jointly to the benefit of both sides,” he said. 

“The EU will continue to approach these talks in a constructive manner, with a view to identify areas of common interest. It is clear that significant joint efforts will be needed to achieve a successful outcome within the 90-day window.”

The EU has paused its retaliatory tariffs in response to the steel and aluminium levies until July 14. It was continuing to work on further measures for the other tariffs, Gill said, in case there was no agreement.