EU Aims for Agreement in Principle Instead of Detailed Deal with U.S. Ahead ...

　　TMTPOST -- Head of the top executive body of the European Union suggested on Thursday the bloc now aims to reach a brief trade agreement instead of a detailed one as U.S. President Donald Trump’s July 9 deadline for higher reciprocal tariffs looms.

　　Credit：Xinhua News Agency

　　The EU and U.S. are aiming first for a less detailed trade “agreement in principle” as a final trade deal is “impossible” ahead of July 9, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told at a press conference.

　　“It’s a huge task because we have the largest trade volume globally between the EU and the United States, €1.5tn [annually] — very complex and a huge quantity,” von der Leyen said. She continued: ”What we are aiming at is an agreement in principle, because in such a volume in 90 days, an agreement in detail is impossible.”

　　Von der Leyen noted Britain, which became the first U.S. trading partner that stuck a trade deal before July 9, had also agreed an agreement in principle with America. “As far as I am informed there are only two countries so far that have concluded with an agreement in principle,” she said, referring to Britain and Vietnam.

　　Trump on Wednesday announced on his social media platform Truth Social that he made a trade deal with Vietnam, and the two sides agreed that U.S. would impose 20% tariffs on all goods imported from Vietnam and 40% tariffs on “any Transshipping.” Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday that trade negotiators are still coordinating with their US counterparts to finalize the details of the deal, not providing further details.

　　Signs on Thursday showed U.S. and EU officials are closer to a trade deal though it may be a sketchy one outlining the key parts to address major concerns. The EU is on the brink of a high-level “framework” trade deal to avert 50% tariffs on EU imports imposed by the Trump administration beyond July 9, Guardian reported on Thursday. It cited on EU diplomat that European officials expected a deal “if not this week then before Wednesday [July 9]”, because it was “in everybody’s interest.”

　　The U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated a deal was possible after meeting the EU’s trade chief. European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic on Thursday in Washington. He said “We’ll see what we can do with the EU”, and on the eve of 4 July celebrations that the US was “going to see a lot more trade deals”.

　　Bessent said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will be “working diligently over the weekend” with European officials after he and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick met with Sefcovic on Thursday.

　　The Guardian reported that the EU was willing to accept Trump’s 10% blanket tariffs, which is the only thing the European negotiators would like to accept, in exchange for an extension in talks and possible concessions on a 25% auto tariff. Sefcovic was said to seek a standstill clause to provide guarantees that the US can stand over that there would be no imposition of new tariffs in any extension period.

　　The EU will probably accept a 10% universal levies but wanted to get cuts to tariffs on individual sectors such as steel and auto and parts, the Financial Times learned from EU diplomats on Thursday. The British newspapaer on Tuesday reported the European capitals are insisting the U.S. rolls back its tariffs on the EU immediately as part of any framework deal ahead of the July 9 deadline. Sefcovic has been reportedly instructed to take a tougher line on his trip on Washington this week as Brussels attempts to remove or at least cut Trumps levies in the long term, per the report.

　　It was reported on Tuesday that top U.S. trade officials were seeking phased deals with the most engaged countries by July 9, and countries agree on such deals would be spared steeper reciprocal tariffs, but left with an existing 10% baseline levy while talks on thornier issues continue.

　　The FT report on Tuesday echoed the report. It cited EU officials that the U.S. has signaled to Brussels that the most likely first-stage agreement is a Britain-style phased one that remains some existing tariffs while talks continue. However, ambassadors from EU member states on Monday asked Sefcovic to insist any such deal includes reductions in the current 10% baseline reciprocal tariffs from July 9, and they also demanded reductions to higher levies on individual sectors.