EU-US Relations: EU ‘troublemakers’ back Trump over Biden in US election

ivergences on the managing of the rise of China or Europe’s need to do more for its own security are likely to remain, whoever is the next man in the White House. What would change is the tone as Biden, a convinced transatlanticist, believes the US can only play this role in dialogue with its partners.

Under Trump, Washington and Europe clashed on a number of issues, ranging from foreign policy or trade to environment, digital, and agriculture. Washington and Brussels even disagreed over how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic.

The EU is waiting for the results of the elections to impose $4 billion in compensatory tariffs on US exports, in response to Washington subsidies to Boeing. Brussels wants to try to find a negotiated solution and cancel US tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of European products, an option that could be on the cards if Biden is the winner.

Tensions, however, are expected to continue if Trump remains in the White House. The new EU Trade commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, expressed his willingness to find a fresh start with his administration when he took over in October. But he also warned that there is no room for more piecemeal agreements like the lobster deal to facilitate the bilateral trade.

Read more at: EU ‘troublemakers’ back Trump over Biden in US election – EURACTIV.com

France and Netherlands call for tougher EU trade conditions

Bloc urged to enforce environmental and labour standards through tariffs

Read more at:
https://www.ft.com/content/e14f082c-42e1-4bd8-ad68-54714b995dff

EU in Defense mode on Trade: In Trade War, EU Is Force to Be Reckoned With-Netherlands Warns

The European Union will act as one if the U.S hits France with tariffs and must stop being naive with powers like China, the Dutch Finance Minister warned.

Adding to growing calls for the bloc to do more to boost its economic sovereignty, Wopke Hoekstra said in an interview that the EU shouldn’t sit idly as countries like China subsidize their companies, or Donald Trump’s administration turns against its member states.

Faced with a global stage that’s increasingly dominated by the U.S. and China, the EU has come under pressure from some members to ensure a level playing field for its companies so that they can better compete with rivals that receive a helping hand from their governments.

“It is simply unacceptable that we are playing by the rules and some others just do whatever they like and by state support have the ability to outcompete some of our companies,” Hoekstra said recently.

“If we lookat the airline industry it’s bizarre that a great company like Air France-KLM is competing in a completely unlevel playing field with some of the carriers from outside the EU.”

His comments follow a recent initiative by the Netherlands calling on the EU to overhaul its competition framework by granting the European Commission powers to perform checks on companies that could potentially distort markets.

The Dutch push comes as a new executive has just taken the EU’s helm in Brussels and as the issue of protecting the region’s industry is gaining more prominence amid the rise of economic nationalism across the world, including with Trump’s America first policies in the U.S.

Read more at: In Trade War, EU Is Force to Be Reckoned With, Netherlands Warns - Bloomberg

USA: China deal, total failure of the so called "Master of the Deal"

What happened to the so called "master of the deal"? North Korea is a disaster in the making, China deal is now also in jeopardy, while with Iran it is not only a nailbiter, but also very dangerous, as it could very well turn into a major global conflict.

Read more at:
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/10/trump-china-trade-tariffs-1316057

The Netherlands: Trump's Muslim ban casts shadow over Dutch PM's visit to U.S. - by Janene Pieters

Prime Minister Mark Rutte is visiting the United States and meeting with Donald Trump on Monday. Rutte plans to announce that the Netherlands will again negotiate establishing American customs personnel at Schiphol. But the D66 fears that Trump's so-called Muslim ban will mean that American customs officers will deny Muslims access to the U.S. on Dutch soil, AD reports.

Coalition party D66 is therefore calling on Rutte to under no circumstances take steps that could make the Netherlands complicit in this entry ban. D66 parliamentarian Sjoerd Sjoerdsma calls the entry ban discriminatory and against the core values of the Netherlands and the Dutch constitution. "Enforcing the Muslim ban on Dutch soil is too crazy for words", Sjoerdsma said, according to the newspaper. "I now expect the government to reflect again and to not take any irreversible steps in this area."

For BBC report on actual visit click here. 

Read more: Trump's Muslim ban casts shadow over Dutch PM's visit to U.S. | NL Times

US Tariffs Announcement: EU says it will impose trade 'countermeasures' against US goods in retaliation to Donald Trump’s new tariffs - by Jon Stone

The European Union has said it will impose trade “countermeasures” against American goods in retaliation to Donald Trump’s new tariffs on imported steel and aluminium.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said retaliatory policies would be announced “in the next few days” in order to “rebalance” the trade situation between European and the US following the move by Mr Trump.

The US president said on Thursday he would introduce a 25 per cent import tariff on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium, claiming that the US had been suffering from “unfair trade”.

“We strongly regret this step, which appears to represent a blatant intervention to protect US domestic industry and not to be based on any national security justification. Protectionism cannot be the answer to our common problem in the steel sector,” Mr Juncker said on Thursday evening.

“Instead of providing a solution, this move can only aggravate matters. The EU has been a close security ally of the US for decades.

“We will not sit idly while our industry is hit with unfair measures that put thousands of European jobs at risk. I had the occasion to say that the EU would react adequately and that's what we will do.

“The EU will react firmly and commensurately to defend our interests. The Commission will bring forward in the next few days a proposal for WTO-compatible countermeasures to rebalance the situation.

Europe’s Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said the measures would “have a negative impact on transatlantic relations” and “will raise costs and reduce choice for US consumers of steel and aluminium, including industries that import these commodities”.

She said the EU would raise a dispute at the World Trade Organisation in Geneva over the tariffs “at the earliest opportunity”.

In what appears to be a veiled reference to Chinese steel production, the Commissioner added that “the root cause of problems in these two sectors is global overcapacity caused by non-market based production”.

During his presidential campaign Mr Trump claimed foreign countries were “dumping vast amounts of steel all over the United States, which essentially is killing our steelworkers and steel companies”.

Read more: EU says it will impose trade 'countermeasures' against US goods in retaliation to Donald Trump’s new tariffs | The Independent

The EU and TTIP: Secret document reveals EU offer to drop 97 percent of tariffs - Justus von Daniels and Marta Orosz

We now know that the TTIP negotiations entered a decisive phase on October 15, 2015. That’s when US and EU representatives laid their cards on the table, exchanging offers to cut taxes on imports from each other. Up until then, the US had only broached hypothetical reductions; now they were openly offering to remove 87.5 percent of tariffs completely.

That was more than the EU expected. European negotiators had to agree a better offer, or risk derailing the deal. A week later, they did came up with a new proposal: reductions in 97 percent of tariff categories.

The EU’s secret offer, which CORRECTIV has seen in its entirety, is made up of 181 pages of densely-printed text and can be found here. It’s got almost 8,000 categories: Every species of fish, every chemical has its own tariff category. Importing a parka? Wool, or polyester?

Trade deals are like poker games. Europe’s big offer comes with a big hope: That the US will open up its public bidding process to European firms. That way, European construction companies could bid on contracts to build US highways, or BMW could sell cop cars to American sheriffs.

For the first time, the tariff offer makes clear what TTIP might do for consumers: remove duties, and prices tend to drop. With tariffs on parts gone, cars could get cheaper. Per part, tariffs add just a few cents on the euro, but altogether European car manufacturers could save a billion Euros each year, according to German Association of the Automotive Industry calculations. Manufacturers could then pass the savings on to consumers.

The EU is now waiting for the US to offer a substantial deal on public procurement. In a September 15 report obtained by CORRECTIV, the European Commission says “it definitely expects that the US will offer to open public procurement at a future point in time, in exchange for the revised tariff offer.”

That report also indicated that the US “promised to make a proposal regarding public procurement for the first time” when the EU and US put forth their symmetrical tariff reductions, eliminating 97 percent of all tariffs.
Public bids are a major TTIP sticking point. The EU wants the US to finally open its markets to allow firms like Balfour Beattie or BMW to compete when cities put out a call for bids on a new building or fleet of cars. The US is less than eager, because that would subject domestic companies – which are already allowed to bid on projects in the EU – to increased competition.

Four days before the next negotiation round starts, the European Commission has now indicated that they don’t expect a comprehensive offer. Sources said that the US haven’t sent their proposal yet and that public procurement will be discussed right after the official negotiation round. The 12th round of negotiations started this Monday in Brussels.

Read more: TTIP: Secret document reveals EU offer to drop 97 percent of tariffs | openDemocracy