Despite broad smiles and declarations of the benefits of cooperation, disagreement is clear between the US and the EU, especially when it comes to the view on the EU's Digital Markets Act, DMA.
The US Secretary of Commerce wants to see more from the EU.
"Our advice is that the EU and their trade ministers carefully consider analyzing their digital rules and finding a balance. If they can find that balance - which I think they can - we can, together with them, address the steel and aluminum issues and move them forward," he said at a press conference in Brussels on Monday.
“Only affects the USA”
There, Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had met with the EU countries' trade ministers during a working lunch.
Greer then points out several things in DMA that the US and the American technology giants have long been annoyed by.
"As the criteria stand, it's almost only American companies that are covered. Enforcement is sometimes quite aggressive. Sometimes our companies feel like the goalposts are being moved. We know these laws are important for the EU. We just want to make sure that our companies' global business models and profits are not affected," Greer says in Brussels.
Explain better?
The DMA and its sister law, the DSA, were created when the EU wanted to create fair conditions online. So far, the EU has resisted demands for changes.
"We have done our best to explain how the legislation works, that it is not discriminatory and is not targeted at American companies. We simply need to do more to explain," said Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic at a separate press conference after the press conference with the US.
Wiktor Nummelin/TT
Facts: Trade meeting in the EU
TT
EU trade ministers met in Brussels on Monday to hold, among other things, a working lunch with the US Secretary of Commerce and Trade Representative.
EU countries have also drawn up a list of goods they want to exempt from high US tariffs. This includes everything from pasta and alcohol to hats, sunglasses and industrial robots, according to news site Politico Europe, among others.
EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic also updated EU countries on the status of several international trade negotiations, for example with India.
