The Trump administration has shown signs of wanting to negotiate a trade deal to avoid a trade war, reports news site Politico, citing EU diplomats.
The letter is the first invitation from the US since the tariff pause about a month ago – after the historic tariff shock in the spring.
We see elements of de-escalation from the American side, says the EU's deputy economy minister, Michal Baranowski.
Negotiations are starting to take off, he adds.
"Small steps"
The information about the letter and his statement comes ahead of a meeting in Brussels between EU trade ministers, including Benjamin Dousa.
Small steps, says about the Trump administration's deal on new tariffs together with exemptions for the UK last week and the announcement of a tariff between China and the US over the weekend.
It's small steps in the right direction – both with the UK and China – but with Europe, they haven't come nearly as far. So I don't think you can expect any kind of agreement between the EU and the US in the coming weeks – unfortunately, he adds.
He believes that the EU will ultimately be able to pressure on Donald Trump much harder than the British.
If that's what's waiting for Europe, the US can expect us to take countermeasures. It's far from a free trade agreement. I'm not even sure I would call it a trade agreement at all, he says about the British deal last week.
"We don't want to shoot ourselves in the foot"
The EU Commission has presented a list of countermeasures that the EU can impose on the US if no agreement can be reached, where Dousa participates, ahead of Thursday's ministerial meeting in Brussels. It involves tariffs on US goods worth 95 billion euros and new EU restrictions on exports to the US of certain steel products and chemicals.
We will analyze it very carefully, just to ensure Swedish jobs and the Swedish economy. Because we don't want to shoot ourselves in the foot now. We want to put pressure on the US, but we don't want this to harm Europe's and Sweden's competitiveness, says Dousa.
The countermeasures are currently out for consultation among member states, which is expected to be completed in early June.
In the Trump administration's trade shock against almost the entire world on April 2, 20% tariffs were introduced against the EU. A week later, Trump announced that they would be halved to 10% in 90 days to see if the EU and the US can make a deal on trade issues.
Besides these tariffs – which apply to all goods from the EU – Trump has also introduced tariffs on metals, cars, and car parts at 25% for the whole world, including EU countries. There have also been threats of new US tariffs on, among other things, semiconductors, aircraft, and film.
The EU has been trying to lure the US to the negotiating table with concessions and rule changes to benefit American interests, as well as a new effort to jointly combat Chinese overproduction.
But despite three meetings between the EU's trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic, and the US trade representative Jamieson Greer, nothing has happened. An EU diplomat states that it still seems to lack a mandate to negotiate with the EU from Donald Trump.
