{"id":938829,"date":"2026-05-05T07:26:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T07:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/938829\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T07:26:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T07:26:52","slug":"eu-us-trade-officials-meet-in-paris-to-discuss-trump-tariff-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/938829\/","title":{"rendered":"EU, US trade officials meet in Paris to discuss Trump tariff threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

The meeting between EU commission trade chief Maros Sefcovic<\/a> and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer comes against the backdrop of President Donald Trump\u2019s warning that duties on EU cars and trucks could jump to 25 percent as early as this week.<\/p>\n

Trump announced the potential increase on Friday, accusing the European Union of failing to honour a tariff agreement struck last summer. The move would mark a sharp escalation in a dispute that both sides had hoped was on a steadier path.<\/p>\n

Pace of implementation<\/p>\n

Speaking to CNBC on Monday, Greer<\/a> said Brussels had yet to make meaningful changes to its tariffs or regulatory framework in line with the deal. While acknowledging that a tariff bill had been advancing through the European Parliament, he described the process as sluggish.<\/p>\n

He also raised concerns about amendments to the legislation, suggesting they could dilute the agreement\u2019s intended impact. After months of discussions, Greer said the US administration had concluded it was not obliged to fully uphold its side of the bargain if Europe was not moving quickly enough.<\/p>\n

EU-US trade deal averts tariff hikes, but sparks unease in Europe<\/a><\/p>\n

The EU, however, pushed back firmly on that characterisation. European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier insisted the bloc remained fully committed to the agreement and was actively working through its implementation.<\/p>\n

According to Regnier, the EU has been transparent with Washington throughout the process, providing regular updates and reassurance that progress is being made. Talks between officials on both sides have continued at multiple levels, he added, suggesting that channels of communication remain open despite the disagreement.<\/p>\n

Meeting in Paris<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s meeting between Sefcovic and Greer will take place on the sidelines of a G7 ministerial gathering in Paris \u2013 a setting that underscores both the importance and urgency of the issue. The two sides are expected to revisit the timeline for implementing the deal and explore ways to avoid a further escalation.<\/p>\n

The agreement reached last summer had lowered US tariffs on EU autos<\/a> to 15 percent \u2013 a notable concession compared with the 25 percent rate applied to many other trading<\/a> partners. For European manufacturers, preserving that lower rate is seen as crucial.<\/p>\n

EU leaders push to rescue European economy challenged by China and US<\/a><\/p>\n

On the EU side, the European Parliament<\/a> has already given conditional approval to the pact. However, under the bloc\u2019s procedures, a final version still needs to be negotiated with member states before it can be fully enacted.<\/p>\n

While Brussels has signalled it is keeping its options open should Washington proceed with higher tariffs, its public stance remains measured.<\/p>\n

Regnier declined to speculate on possible countermeasures, stressing instead that the EU\u2019s focus is on completing the implementation phase.<\/p>\n

(with AFP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The meeting between EU commission trade chief Maros Sefcovic and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer comes against the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":938830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5174],"tags":[32,2000,262293,7335,299,5187,1699,20730,39103,1216,188214],"class_list":["post-938829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-eu","tag-donald-trump","tag-eu","tag-eu-cars-and-trucks","tag-eu-commission","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-european-union","tag-european-parliament","tag-jamieson-greer","tag-maros-sefcovic","tag-thomas-regnier"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116520789432557477","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=938829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/938830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=938829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=938829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=938829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}