MNI BRIEF: EC Proceeds With Trade Deal Despite Tariff Threats

The European Commission will proceed with the introduction of legislation to implement its trade agreement with the U.S. despite comments Sunday from President Donald Trump calling for punitive tariffs in retaliation for EU regulation of U.S. tech firms, Chief Spokesperson Paula Pinho said on Tuesday.

The EC is doing "all the necessary" to have the legislation ready for introduction by next week, Pinho said.

Under July’s framework deal, the 27.5% tariffs on EU car imports will only be reduced to 15% once the EC's proposal to cut its own tariffs to zero is presented, with tariff relief backdated to Aug 1 so long as this is done by the end of August. 

But EU trade sources told MNI Trump's comments have undermined the EC's previous claims that the agreement provided “stability and predictability”, called into question the whole deal. (See MNI: EU-US Joint Trade Statement Seen Lacking Key Detail )