President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday in a joint statement said that they have reached a deal to avoid a trade war.
“We agreed today, first of all, to work together towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers and zero subsidies for the non-auto industrial goods,” Trump said in the White House Rose Garden.
According to The Guardian, the EU has agreed to increase U.S. soybean imports, lower industrial tariffs with the aim of dropping them to zero and work more closely together on regulations and energy, including buying more liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Trump and Juncker also stated that they will attempt to improve the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“We’re starting the negotiation right now, but we know very much where it’s going,” Trump said during a brief joint statement in the Rose Garden on Wednesday afternoon.
“When I was invited by the President to the White House, I had one intention: I had the intention to make a deal today. And we made a deal today,” Juncker said.
Apparently, Trump won’t be imposing massive tariffs on foreign autos and auto parts.
The U.S. and EU will “hold off on other tariffs” while negotiations proceed, Juncker said.
“We had a big day, very big,” Trump said, calling the breakthrough “a new phase” in trade relations.
Meanwhile, markets responded favorably to reports of a deal on Wednesday afternoon.
Before Juncker came to the White House, Trump threatened to tax European cars, a move that was expected to start a global trade war.
However, tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China are going to stay, meaning retaliatory tariffs on American goods are most likely to continue.
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