General
Tuesday Briefing: U.S. and E.U. Talk Trade
Plus, defining Sweden’s culture.
President Trump at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia for Memorial Day.Credit…Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times
U.S. and E.U. began trade negotiations
Maros Sefcovic, the E.U.’s trade commissioner, spoke yesterday with Howard Lutnick, the U.S. commerce secretary, a day after President Trump said that he would delay 50 percent tariffs on all E.U. imports to allow more time for negotiations. Sefcovic later posted on social media that the E.U. “remains fully committed to constructive and focused efforts” toward a deal.
On Sunday, Trump spoke by phone with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission. A spokeswoman for the commission, Paula Pinho, said yesterday that the discussion between the two leaders offered “a new impetus for the negotiations.” The goal is to reach some solution before July 9, when the levies are now set to take effect.
But the path toward de-escalation remains fraught. The U.S. and the E.U. still have different priorities. And it is not clear that either the demands or offers on the table have changed.
Goals: A spokesman for the commission said yesterday that the E.U. was still suggesting that both sides could cut tariffs on industrial goods to zero. He also suggested that the E.U. was refining lists of retaliatory tariffs — which European nations could slap on American imports like machinery, soybeans and bourbon.
Challenges: The Trump administration has pushed for European nations to change their consumption tax system and key digital regulations, which officials have said they will not do.
