US and EU strike trade deal to remove tariffs on steel and aluminium
- Negotiators reached an agreement on Saturday, said US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, speaking on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome
- The deal contains agreed rules to prevent steel from China from being re-exported tariff-free to the US via the EU, officials said
The US and the European Union have concluded a trade truce on steel and aluminium that will allow the allies to remove tariffs on more than US$10 billion of their exports each year.
“The agreement, ultimately, to negotiate a carbon-based arrangement on steel and aluminium trade addresses both Chinese over production and carbon intensity in the steel and aluminium sector,” Sullivan told reporters on Saturday. Negotiators were working hard to reach a deal before December 1, when the European tariffs are set to double.
The deal marks a significant moment in repairing the US trade relationship with Europe after Donald Trump’s disruptive presidency.
“We’ve reached an agreement with the EU which maintains the 232 tariffs, but allows limited volumes of EU steel and aluminium to enter the US tariff-free,” said US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo.
“It was a very successful negotiation and we agreed on a way forward for how to face our shared challenge which is global excess capacity mainly by China,” she said.
