
The European Union is contemplating a proposal to boost purchases of American goods by $50 billion as a strategy to address ongoing trade tensions with the United States. European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, who also serves as the EU’s chief negotiator, shared this information in a recent interview with the Financial Times.
“If we view this as a €50 billion (trade) deficit, we could potentially resolve the issue swiftly through increased imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) or specific agricultural products such as soybeans,” Mr. Sefcovic stated in the interview published yesterday, Thursday.
At present, the EU is in negotiations with the administration of Donald Trump to eliminate additional tariffs that have been imposed by the U.S. president.
The U.S. has enacted a 25% tariff on cars, aluminum, and steel, along with a baseline tariff of 10% on nearly all other goods imported from EU member states.
Trump has accused the EU of deliberately sustaining a significant trade deficit with the U.S., which he claims totals in the hundreds of billions of dollars. However, Brussels contends that when accounting for services provided by American companies within the European market, the trade deficit is significantly smaller, amounting to around €50 billion.
Regarding the 10% tariffs, Mr. Sefcovic expressed that Brussels considers them to be “very high” and indicated that the EU would not agree to a deal that maintains these tariffs.
Reaching a mutually beneficial bilateral agreement that satisfies both EU member states and the European Parliament is expected to be “very difficult,” warned Maros Sefcovic.
Trade negotiations are overseen by the European Commission. Once a deal is achieved, it must receive approval from all 27 member states and be ratified by the European Parliament. (02/5/2025)













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