US and EU launch trade talks over Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs

The US and EU have agreed to launch discussions on issues of trade, including on President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs, officials have said.

EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom met US secretary of commerce Wilbur Ross yesterday as the bloc scrambles to secure an exemption from Trump’s planned tariffs on metals imports.

In a joint statement following the meeting, the two said: “We have agreed to launch immediately a process of discussion with President Trump and the Trump administration on trade issues of common concern, including steel and aluminium, with a view to identifying mutually acceptable outcomes as rapidly as possible.”

Malmstrom has previously threatened to tax imports of US goods as a retaliatory measure to Trump’s tariffs, which are set to go into effect this week.

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