From the Liveblog of
Monday, April 15, 2019
EU green lights trade talks with Washington to defuse tension
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEuropean Union countries have overruled France to give the green light for Brussels to open trade talks with Washington as soon as possible and defuse trans-Atlantic tensions.
The EU’s 28 member states has struggled for months to agree on a mandate to open the talks, with some fearing the delay would restart a trade war with US President Donald Trump.
But EU ministers meeting in Luxembourg this morning approved a mandate to negotiate “an agreement limited to the elimination of tariffs for industrial goods only” and another accord designed to remove non-tariff barriers.
The ministers say their mandate will exclude agriculture products, which EU trade minister Cecilia Malmstrom says amounted to a “red line” for Europe.
US officials have insisted that farm products be included in any trade talks.
— AFP
The Times of Israel Community.