European Union negotiators have so far failed to make progress in trade talks with US President Donald Trump’s administration and may seek to extend the status quo to avoid tariff increases, European diplomats familiar with the negotiations said on Friday.
The EU has already lost hope of reaching a comprehensive trade agreement by Trump’s July 9 deadline, but after the talks in Washington, it is not certain that they will be able to agree in principle even on a milder version of the agreement.
The European Commission told member state envoys on Friday that it believed the US was ready to “pause” current tariffs on partners with whom it had reached initial deals, with a possible lighter tariff regime or exemptions later.
Without a preliminary deal, US tariffs on most imports would rise from the current 10 percent to the rate Trump set on April 2. For the EU, it amounts to 20 percent.
Two European diplomats told Reuters that the Commission appeared to be more inclined towards the first option, extending the status quo, and then resuming negotiations.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that he will negotiate over the weekend.
Trump has imposed tariffs of 50 percent on steel and aluminum imports from the EU, 20 percent on imports of cars and auto parts, and 10 percent on most other products.
The EU agreed on a package of countermeasures worth 21 billion euros, but did not implement it. It is also considering the second package, which was originally supposed to amount to 95 billion euros. That has now been reduced to 72 billion after lobbying by some member states, diplomats said.
