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US and EU should simultaneously ‘drop all Tariffs, Barriers and Subsidies’, Trump says

On July 25, Donald Trump will meet with European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker
US President Donald Trump EPA-EFE/MICHAEL REYNOLDS
US President Donald Trump
© EPA-EFE/MICHAEL REYNOLDS

WASHINGTON, July 25. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump suggested on late Tuesday that the European Union should simultaneously with the United States lift all customs tariffs, trade barriers and subsidies.

"The European Union is coming to Washington tomorrow [July 25] to negotiate a deal on Trade," US President Trump wrote in his Twitter account. "I have an idea for them."

"Both the US and the EU drop all Tariffs, Barriers and Subsidies!" Trump stated.

"That would finally be called Free Market and Fair Trade! Hope they do it, we are ready - but they won’t!" the US president added.

President Trump is scheduled to hold talk in Washington on July 25 with President of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker. The upcoming talks are viewed by various experts as the last chance to avert a full-scale trade war between the United States and the European Union.

European Commission’s spokesperson Margaritis Schinas said on Monday that Juncker did not intend to make particular proposals regarding the mutual trade at the meeting with President Trump. Schinas said "This is an occasion to de-dramatize any potential tensions around trade and to engage in an open and constructive dialogue with our American partners."

US White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley announced on Tuesday that President Trump intended to bring up at the meeting with the chief of the European Commission issues regarding bilateral trade and the fight against terrorism.

Washington introduced in March new duties on steel and aluminum products - 25% for steel and 10% for aluminum. The newly-introduced tariffs had a particular impact on the EU-produced steel and aluminum, while US President Trump also suggested introducing a 20% duty on all European imported cars.

The EU announced earlier that it would proportionally respond to American trade tariffs, as well as initiate proceedings as part of the World Trade Organization (WTO).