If the European Union (EU) does not reject the principle of reciprocal tariffs that US President Donald Trump wants to introduce, then this "reciprocity should be beneficial for everyone," European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said in Washington.
At a press conference, the day after his meeting with US Commerce Secretary Howard Latnick, the Commissioner denied that the EU had agreed to lower tariffs on cars.
However, Šefčovič said that the EU is ready to discuss this if the US is willing to reduce the tariff on vans (pick-up trucks) and trucks, which are currently 20 and 25 percent.
"We are very open to seeing how we can reduce import taxes on all products because I think that will benefit both businesses and consumers on both sides of the ocean," Šefčović said.
The European Commissioner added that the trade balance between the two partners was not as unbalanced as the US president claims, recalling that the US deficit in this area, according to Eurostat data, was around 50 billion euros.
"It's true that we have a surplus of about $150 billion in goods. But the US has a fairly significant surplus, more than $100 billion, in services, so this almost just makes up for it," he explained.
"This is about a 50 billion euro (US) deficit in our trade relations, out of a total of 1.600 billion dollars, I don't think it's something we can't overcome," Šefčovič added.
The European Commissioner said that trade between the two sides of the Atlantic represents "more than 30 percent of world trade" and that "it is the most important trade artery on the planet."
"If we fail to reach an agreement, it will have a huge impact and negative effects on the entire global economy. We are focused on finding a positive outcome" for the newly emerging trade tensions between Washington and Brussels, he added.
On February 13, US President Donald Trump unveiled a roadmap for imposing reciprocal tariffs on every country that has tariffs on imports from the US.
The White House says the reciprocal tariffs will strengthen the US's economic and national security.
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