BRUSSELS: European Union countries on Monday overruled France and gave 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 had 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 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 said the mandate would exclude agriculture products, which EU trade minister Cecilia Malmstrom said amounted to a “red line” for Europe. US officials have pushed for farm products to be included.
“I will now get in contact with our American partners with a view to organising a date for the first round as soon as possible,” Malmstrom told a press conference in Brussels.
Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2019
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