MNI: EU's Sefcovic Offers Trade Compromises To Trump- Official

The European Union has offered to cut tariffs on U.S. cars to zero and to build more pharmaceutical factories in the U.S. as it seeks to head off tariffs next week, an EU trade source told MNI on Wednesday.

Alternatively, the EU could reduce its auto tariffs to the same level as the 2.5% imposed in the U.S., the source said following Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic's visit to Washington on Tuesday. Building pharmaceutical factories would help U.S. President Donald Trump make good on campaign promises to bring down drug prices, the source noted.

"The dialogue is still going. The door is not closed," the official said. 

EU officials hope the offers will be assessed positively by the U.S. in its Trade Barriers Report ahead of threatened reciprocal tariffs on April 2. (See MNI INTERVIEW: Rapid Rate Move Up More Plausible-Riksbank Head)

CHINA VISIT

"This will be the final analysis before Trump makes the final decision," the source said. 

Sefcovic travelled directly to China after his meetings with U.S. trade officials, where he planned to discuss the "potential impact of reciprocal tariffs on supply chains and how to mitigate these”, the source said.

A key concern in Brussels will be to avoid significant diversion to the EU of China's U.S. exports, especially given the ongoing dispute between the two sides over China's electric vehicle exports to the bloc.