US, EU officials about to meet in Brussels for trade talks

Senior United States (US) and European Union (EU) officials are set to meet in Brussels for the first time since the summer trade agreement.

Today, November 24, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamison Greer arrived in the EU capital for the first post-July meeting, Caliber.Az reports per Bloomberg.

Before talks began, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said the meeting focuses not on new agreements but on reviewing and politically assessing the current state of Brussels–Washington relations. According to Sefcovic, Lutnick, and Greer will hold discussions during a working lunch with EU trade ministers.

The EU is expected to voice concerns over the US decision to extend 50% tariffs on steel and aluminium, covering more than 400 European products. This has raised serious worries that the trade facilitation agreement is losing relevance and being undermined.

At the end of October, Germany’s VDMA engineering federation urged Brussels to reconsider the US deal due to additional tariffs affecting equipment containing steel and aluminium.

On November 10, Western media reported that Switzerland was reportedly close to a 15% export tariff agreement with the US; in response, President Donald Trump stated that Washington was working with Bern to reduce the existing 39% rate.

Against this backdrop, the American administration plans to implement the next stage of trade agreements and sign a binding written accord with the EU.

The US intends to resolve outstanding issues, including digital services taxes, discrimination against American companies, and pharmaceutical pricing.

At the same time, a White House official noted that European requests for further tariff reductions do not align with the current pace of negotiations and emphasised that the framework agreed upon in July must be fully implemented before any additional cuts are made.

By Jeyhun Aghazada