European Union Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic will travel to Washington over the weekend ahead of talks on tariffs with U.S. officials on Monday, an EU spokesperson said on Friday.
He went on to tell Ireland’s national broadcaster that one of the major aims of Sefcovic’s trip was to “understand precisely what the outcome the Americans want to achieve is.”
Sefcovic’s trip comes just a day after the EU announced it would pause for 90 days its countermeasures against steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by the United States, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a similar halt to most of his levies on the bloc and a host of other nations.
“I think it is appropriate to allow the commission to do their work, to engage with member states in private, and then when they outline what their agenda will be, for all of us to work together to find ways in which we can unite in supporting their agenda,” Donohoe said.
The ministers agreed that economic waves called for urgent action to make the bloc’s internal 450 million-consumer market work better.
This could include speeding up the introduction of a digital euro, the creation of the EU’s savings and investment union, and trade diversification.
“While finalizing the adoption of the EU countermeasures that saw strong support from our member states, we will put them on hold for 90 days.
“If negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in. Preparatory work on further countermeasures continues. As I have said before, all options remain on the table.”
The countermeasures, which were agreed upon by the EU on April 9, had been due to kick in on April 15.
Before Trump announced the temporary halt, the United States had imposed a 20 percent tariff on all EU goods, but the 27-nation bloc will now be subject to a 10 percent baseline tariff on most goods.
However, steel and aluminum products are still subject to higher tariffs of 25 percent.
Other nations that have already commenced, or are soon to commence, negotiations include Vietnam, Taiwan, and Israel, according to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also said that any trade agreements will be “bespoke” deals, rather than overarching pacts for groups of countries.
Meanwhile, China has retaliated against Washington, with Beijing saying it would increase tariffs on U.S. imports from 84 percent to 125 percent after the U.S. decision to lift duties on Chinese goods to 145 percent.
