The European Union "is honouring its commitments" under the agreement concluded last summer with the United States on customs duties.
This was stated by European Commissioner for Trade Maroš Šefčovič before the start of a Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday, where EU trade ministers will convene.
Also in attendance, were the US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who joined them for lunch. This is the first official visit by the two to the European Union.
On the agenda is the implementation of the trade agreement concluded by the US and the EU in July to end the tariff war, with a maximum tariff of 15% on European exports to the US.
In exchange, the EU has committed to increasing US purchases in a number of sectors. Šefčovič said he had already spoken to the Americans on Sunday evening and Monday morning.
"I am pleased to have been able to demonstrate that the EU is delivering on its commitments in practice. For example, the EU's strategic energy purchases in the areas of LNG, nuclear energy and oil have already reached 200 billion dollars this year," said the European Commissioner.
"The US share of EU LNG imports alone has risen from 45 to 60% thanks to long-term contracts. EU investment in the US has also risen to nearly 154 billion euros since January. And we know that negotiations are underway on contracts to purchase more than 40 billion dollars' worth of chips for the European economy," he added.
In order to rebalance trade relations with the US, the European Commission recently proposed limiting tariff-free imports of steel from other parts of the world to 18.3 million tonnes per year, a 47% reduction compared to the 2024 quotas.
Once those quotas are filled, the EU will impose an "unaffordable" 50% tariff on the remaining imports. Currently, a 25% tariff still applies.
At the end of the meeting, Secretary Lutnick reiterated US President Donald Trump's desire to see the European Union relax (or ‘rebalance’, in his words) its laws regulating the tech sector if it wants to see a reduction in US customs duties on European steel.
"The European Union and its trade ministers should seriously analyse their digital rules, not to try to abandon them, but to find a balance that suits us. And if they can do that, I think we can resolve the steel and aluminium issues together," the American told the press.
The European Commissioner reiterated that EU legislation on digital giants was not discriminatory and did not target US companies in particular. "But we know that this is one of the issues the US wants to discuss," he agreed.
"We are ready to answer questions, just as the United States is ready to respond to our inquiries and suggestions on steel and other issues that are important to us. So this is a work in progress and we are continuing to discuss it."
