NEW YORK, April 14. /TASS/. The United States has made tremendous progress in trade negotiations with the European Union, White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett said.
"There have been a lot of discussions with the EU. I myself, along with the rest of the trade team, have met with them numerous, numerous times. We're making enormous progress," he told the Fox Business TV channel.
"It’s going to be very good for American workers, especially American auto workers."
On April 2, Trump announced the imposition of import duties on products from 185 countries and territories. Universal tariffs of 10% came into force on April 5, individual tariffs on April 9. The rate applied to products from the EU was 20%. On April 9, the EU approved the first package of retaliatory measures - 25% tariffs on a wide range of agricultural and industrial products from the United States. The volume of American imports subject to the EU duties was estimated at 21 billion euros per year.
On April 9, Trump suspended the tariff increases for 75 states that expressed willingness to negotiate for 90 days, but the basic 10% tariffs continue to apply to them. He also said he was open to discussing the size of duties with trading partners.
On April 10, the European Commission postponed its retaliatory measures for 90 days, adding that this decision is intended to give negotiations a chance, but if the dialogue fails, the tariffs will be imposed.