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Tariffs/ Next meeting on May 19 - EU negotiators fail to agree on trade deal with US
2026-05-07 12:55:54 / POLITIKË
Talks between EU lawmakers and governments on implementing a trade deal with the US ended without any progress on Wednesday evening.
The result risks provoking the wrath of President Donald Trump, who has threatened to hit European automakers with 25% tariffs if the EU fails to implement the transatlantic trade deal reached at his Scottish golf club last year.
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič urged negotiators to reach a deal that would help stabilize trade relations with Washington, according to a person familiar with the meeting. But after about six hours of talks, they emerged without a deal.
“Good and constructive negotiations this evening with the Council and the Commission,” said MEP Karin Karlsbro, who represented the centrist Renew Europe group in the European Parliament. “It is important that we reach a lasting agreement on Trump before we have a final agreement.”
The inconclusive outcome puts the ball back in Trump's court, as his ambassador to the EU, Andrew Puzder, previously said Washington would impose the 25 percent auto tariff "relatively quickly" if negotiators do not reach a quick deal.
"You have time to fix it, the time is now," Puzder told Bloomberg TV in Brussels. "If you do that, he'll probably reconsider."
Under the deal reached at Trump's Turnberry resort last July, the EU agreed to remove its tariffs on American industrial goods, while Washington would cap tariffs on most goods at 15 percent.
But the EU has yet to achieve this goal by passing the relevant legislation, angering Trump and increasing pressure on the European Commission - which negotiates trade deals on behalf of its 27 members - to approve it.
The Commission's top trade official, Sabine Weyand, told the European Parliament's trade committee earlier that she looked forward to a meeting "which represents progress and which shows that the EU is staying true to its commitments".
“I am convinced that … we have all the ingredients that allow us to show that we remain a reliable partner, while at the same time giving us all the instruments to react to any developments we see,” Weyand also told trade lawmakers.
While the Commission and most EU member states want to persuade Turnberry to cross the line, EU lawmakers have been reluctant — frustrated by Trump’s threats earlier this year to annex Greenland, a Danish territory. They have also been reassessing whether the deal is still good after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump’s initial tariffs in February.
Led by veteran trade committee chairman Bernd Lange, lawmakers have called for adding additional conditions that would block the deal until Trump lowers steel tariffs, suspend it if it threatens the EU's territorial integrity and terminate it before the end of his term.
So far, the parties have not agreed on any of the most contentious points of discussion, said an official at the Council.
"There has been progress and the aim is to conclude the negotiations soon. But both sides need to check with the political groups and member states, respectively, to see what they are willing to accept," the official added, speaking about the late-night talks.
Lange, Parliament's chief negotiator, said the two sides were "moving closer to an agreement", but added that more time was needed.
Negotiators aim to meet again on May 19, although that date remains to be confirmed, another Council official said.
Both sides have said they want to reach a final compromise by July, when temporary tariffs imposed by Trump are set to expire. But that would be too late, according to Puzder, the U.S. ambassador, who said the entire trade deal is now in jeopardy.
"If a deal is not a deal, then I think the United States will withdraw from it," he said./ Politico.
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