The Spanish Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, has requested Greer and Lutnick to include olive oil and wine in this group.
Ratification of the agreement The Scotland agreement, which many in the EU capital pointed to as the culmination of a humiliating European summer, between U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, resulted in the joint communiqué of August 21, in which the European Union committed to accepting general tariffs of 15% from the U.S. in exchange for this representing a ceiling for exports sensitive to the American industry.
When a European diplomatic source says there will be a "frank" exchange of views during a meeting, on the Brussels language scale, that is precisely the step below verbal aggression.
Several diplomatic sources consider this American threat contrary to what was agreed upon this summer. The American side and the European member states see themselves as the "good guys" and the other as the "bad guys". The only thing they agree on is that the "ugly guy" is the European Parliament: the European Parliament is taking its time to ratify the text, annoying both Washington and some European capitals, although several diplomatic sources ask for respect for the Union's internal democratic process.
Sefcovic has been in charge of emphasizing that the European Union is indeed complying with a large part of the agreement. On the American side, there are complaints about the slowness of the ratification process of the pact between the U.S. and the European Commission, but there is also a request for the EU to relax digital rules for American 'Big Tech'.
Both American representatives have even suggested that the EU should "resolve pending cases", referring to ongoing investigations, "to create a framework in which we feel comfortable".
"Our suggestion is that the European Union and its Trade Ministers carefully consider the possibility of reviewing their digital norms, try to achieve a more balanced application, not discard them, but find a balanced approach that works," Lutnick stated, explaining that if they do so, "we will address the steel and aluminum issues together".
Because both accuse each other of not complying with the pact.
Europeans also ask the U.S. to expand the list of goods that are tariff-free. This is the kind of meeting that took place this Monday in Brussels between the Trade Ministers of the European Union and the American trade representatives, Howard Lutnick and Jamieson Greer, with diplomatic sources anticipating it would be a meeting with a "frank" debate.
"Europe is not only committed, it is complying with its commitments in practice," the Slovak official assured, explaining that the EU has imported 200 billion dollars in energy this year, that American liquefied natural gas (LNG) has gone from representing 45% of imports to 60%, and since January, European direct investments have reached 145 billion dollars, plus purchases of 40 billion dollars in chips.
The ratification process, along with digital legislation, is the main complaint with which Greer and Lutnick arrived in the EU capital. Greer even suggested that the EU should follow their "advice and guidance" in the digital realm.
"The EU's problem is not just that China and the U.S. innovate, but that it copies them very slowly," Nacho Alarcón.
"We have explained that (the European norms) are not discriminatory, that they are not aimed at American companies," Sefcovic stated at a press conference afterward, assuring that Europeans must continue to explain to the American side these points.
The Trade Commissioner also defended that it is in Washington's interest not to continue expanding the list of derivatives, which causes products that contain steel and aluminum, subject to 50% tariffs, to also face these trade levies. "If they do it right, the scale of digital investment in Europe will be as impressive as the one we are seeing in the United States," he added.
And at the end, the Danish presidency, represented by Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, insisted: it was a "frank" meeting. Each party arrived at the meeting with its own list of grievances. There are frank discussions in the EU capital that are more painful to some of the participants than an open-handed slap.
European ministers consider that the U.S. is going against the "spirit of the" commercial agreement closed this summer, according to diplomatic sources, by threatening to expand the list of "derivatives" of steel and aluminum subject to 50% tariffs, in addition to reducing direct commercial tariffs on steel and aluminum.
"The United States wants to re-industrialize, and an important part of this are also the machines supplied from the European Union," Sefcovic warned, stressing the need to find common ground for all steel and aluminum imports.
But one thing is what is written and another is what is done. The scene of the duel in the cemetery from 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly', the 1966 film by Sergio Leone, would be a good representation of the tension between the parties.
Upon arriving at the meeting, reading a document.
Much of the attention is focused on the European Parliament, because its process is slower and the institution points out that it might need until February to finish approving the document. In fact, Bernd Lange, a Social Democratic MEP and chairman of the European Parliament's Trade Committee, points to the expansion of the list of steel derivatives as one of the institution's main concerns.
Source: El Confidencial, Brussels
