US-EU: Sefcovic To MEPs: Hope For Satisfactory Result On Trade In Coming Days

European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic has just finished updating the European Parliament on the state of talks with the US intended to mitigate the impact of tariffs on EU-US trade. Sefcovic says that "Our priority is a negotiated solution with the US", and that trade talks "continue remotely every day." Claims that the two sides have "made good progress on the text of an agreement in principle" and that he "hopes to achieve a satisfactory result in the coming days." Acknowledges that even with a skeleton deal, "a degree of rebalancing" will be needed in future transatlantic trade. 

• Sefcovic: "Our regulatory framework remains non-negotiable." Says that the EU's trade diversification agenda is a priority, which the Commission is also working to "protect the EU from trade diversion from other countries."
• The Commissioner says that EU unity is "crucial". This unity may prove hard to come by, with countries such as Germany and Italy advocating for a swift deal, little matter of the content, while others, such as France and Spain, support a more robust stance that could imperil an agreement being reached by 1 August.
• Speaking on 8 July, US President Donald Trump said, “the European Union has been speaking to us, Ursula and the whole group, and they have been very nice.” Says that the EU “treated us very badly until recently,” claiming the Union has been “in many respects much worse than China," before adding "Now they are being very nice to us and we will see what happens."