WASHINGTON: EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said Thursday (Feb 28) that reciprocity in tariffs should be made to work for both the bloc and Washington, after talks with his counterparts in US President Donald Trump’s administration.
While the United States is planning “reciprocal tariffs,” the European Union is open to working with Trump officials towards lowering duties for industrial goods and stepping up purchases of US products, Sefcovic told reporters.
“We will be ready to look (at) how we can lower the import duties for all industrial products,” he said, a day after meeting Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative nominee Jamieson Greer.
Trump has taken aim at the EU and others over trade, announcing plans for sweeping duties tailored to each US trading partner, and taking into consideration non-tariff factors.
But Sefcovic stressed after his four-hour meeting with trade counterparts that if Washington were seeking reciprocity, “it must work for both” sides.
