Leaders of EU countries agreed to open trade talks with the United States on Monday with the goal of eliminating tariffs on industrial goods but said they would not discuss agricultural products. President Trump, during a roundtable discussion in Minnesota, said the EU treats the United States unfairly in trade in agriculture and automobiles.
“They barely take our agricultural products and yet they can sell Mercedes-Benz, and they can sell everything they want in our country,” said Trump. “It’s not fair.” The USDA says the EU is the No. 3 market for U.S. farm exports, with sales estimated at $13.4 billion this year, and is the No. 2 source of food and ag imports, estimated at $24 billion in 2019. Europe and the United States are at odds over a number of food and ag issues, such as biotech crops, growth stimulants for livestock, meat inspection standards, and restrictions on the use of place names to identify such foods as Parmesan cheese.
In a release, the European Council, composed of leaders of EU member countries, said negotiations “will cover a very limited set of issues” and pointed to a statement last July, following a meeting with Trump, that agriculture would be excluded from the talks. U.S. officials have insisted the sector must be part of negotiations.
“Any deal that eliminates tariffs will need to get congressional approval. Bipartisan members of the Senate and the House of Representatives have voiced their objections to a deal without agriculture, making it unlikely that any such deal would pass Congress,” said Senate Finance chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa farmer.
The EU said it will not conclude negotiations as long as its steel and aluminum exports are subject to U.S. tariffs and insisted it would suspend talks if any new U.S. restrictions are imposed.