The United States has reverted to the European Commission over the heavily-anticipated joint statement that underpins the trade agreement reached between Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Trump in late July, the EU’s executive confirmed on Thursday.
“I’m now happy to confirm that we have received a text from the US with their suggestions for, let’s say, getting closer to that finalisation of the document,” spokesperson Olof Gill told reporters. “So we’re going to look at that now.”
The US and the EU reached a political agreement ending the trade dispute between the two blocs more than two weeks ago, when US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met in Scotland.
The parties agreed that the US will set 15 % tariffs on EU goods, with the bloc also committing to purchasing US energy products worth €750 billion and to investing a further €600 billion Stateside before the end of Trump’s term. But the two sides have since been making contradictory claims about the content and scope of the deal.
The joint US-EU statement will not be legally-binding but it is highly important because it will set technical details and include the list of goods that will be exempt from tariffs.
Gill would not be drawn to comment on when the text might be finalised, saying that “the speed with which that happens depends on both sides giving it full engagement and full focus and from our side we can certainly say that we will be doing so”.
Further technical and political engagement between the two sides should now take place, with the EU set to “make our own suggestions back”, Gill said. “We ping pong it forward and back until we get to a final text, and I hope we can get there soon.”
Some European manufacturers have bemoaned the delays in the implementation of the deal, chief among them the automotive industry for which the tariff rate has not been reduced to 15% yet and remains at 27.5%.
The EU Commission spokesman reiterated on Thursday that he is not concerned that the US president has not yet signed the executive order on car imports, arguing: “The US has made political commitments to us in this respect, and we look forward to them being implemented.”
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