“The European Union, to their credit, has now made significant, real offers” to open its agricultural and other markets, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC on Tuesday evening. “The president’s got those deals on his desk, and he’s thinking about how he wants to play them.”
Yet the document on Trump’s desk can hardly be described as a “deal.” Instead, it would represent a one-sided decision to set new tariff rates from Aug. 1.
The U.S. president on Monday sent letters to 14 countries informing them that, absent an agreement, they will face higher tariffs from the start of next month. These were broadly seen as countries with which talks have failed so far.
The European Commission, which has yet to receive any such notification, says its negotiating efforts have shielded the bloc from more tariffs.
“Crucially, while other nations faced increased tariffs from the United States as a result of the letters that President Trump sent out on Monday, our negotiations have spared the EU from facing higher tariffs,” Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s top trade negotiator, told European lawmakers on Wednesday.
“The agreement in principle we are striving to finalize is not the end, but rather the start of the new beginning … I see it as a foundational framework that paves the way for a future fully fledged EU-U.S. trade agreement,” Šefčovič said, before hopping on another call with U.S. counterpart Jamieson Greer.