In the midst of ongoing negotiations between the EU and the USA, the situation is now too sensitive to reveal any details about them, according to Olof Gill.
We are preparing countermeasures at the same time as we are negotiating. But we have constant contact and dialogue with our member countries and do not act without the member states giving the green light, he says.
Only jointly
Recently, Howard Lutnick, Trade Minister in the Trump administration, told the news channel CNBC that the USA will be open to negotiating with individual countries even after the deadline for the new tariffs – August 1.
However, that member countries in the EU would individually negotiate with the USA is not an option and would be contrary to the EU's trade policy and treaties, according to Olof Gill.
Individual member states cannot negotiate with any other country. All member states, including Sweden, have been involved in the decision that it is more effective to drive a joint trade policy, he says.
Not simple
Even if Olof Gill in this sensitive negotiating situation cannot provide any details, he can without a doubt say that negotiations always have a strong psychological dimension.
All negotiation is psychology. Now, much depends on how one can best understand the psychology behind Trump's trade policy. It's not the simplest, he says.
For several weeks, the EU and the USA have been negotiating a framework for an agreement where the USA imposes a 10 percent tariff on the majority of all imports from the EU. At present, this is already happening due to the USA's basic tariffs. According to the Financial Times' sources, Trump is said to have stubbornly increased his demands in the negotiations, where he now demands tariffs of at least 15-20 percent.
