The US President’s comments came after a meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker amid pressure in the US over the impact tariffs are having on the country’s farmers after he unleashed a trade war.
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After Trump slapped steep new tariffs on imports of foreign steel and aluminum earlier this year, China, Mexico, and the European Union imposed retaliatory tariffs on billions of dollars USA goods – from bourbon, Harley Davidson motorbikes and orange juice to dairy products, soybeans and pork.
Trump and European Commission President Junker announced on Wednesday the opening of negotiations focused on lowering some tariffs, eliminating the steel and aluminum tariffs and boosting the EU’s imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas and soybeans.
“It’s going to be hard for markets today with such a massive market cap stock down so much”, said Michael Antonelli, managing director, institutional sales trading at Robert W. Baird & Co.
While Mr Juncker is set to make a last effort to talk Mr Trump out of the auto tariffs, which would hit Germany’s dominant car-makers hard, the European Union has vowed a withering response if the USA goes ahead.
The Trump administration has unveiled a $12bn (£9.1bn) plan aimed at helping United States farmers hurt by the intensifying trade war.
The EU and the United States have been embroiled in a tit-for-tat trade row in the last few months after Mr Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.
After talks at the White House with European Union officials, Trump announced in a joint Rose Garden appearance that the delegation agreed to increase imports of soybeans and liquefied natural gas.
He earned praise from House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway of Texas for the aid package and for announcing an agreement with the European Union’s chief executive, Jean-Claude Juncker, to work toward eliminating trade barriers.
Meanwhile, both Washington and Brussels will “hold off on other tariffs” while the talks are under way, Juncker said. China alone imported $12.3 billion in soybeans past year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The two sides agreed to agree in the near future on the tariff question.
June: Exemptions to United States metals tariffs for EU, Canada and Mexico expire.
The development also comes as Trump continues to ramp up trade tensions with China, Mexico and Canada.
On March 1, Trump announced that the USA would be imposing a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on all aluminum imports.
Trump also announced good news for American farmers.
The United States exported $138 billion in agriculture products in 2017, including $21.5 billion of soybeans which were the most valuable US export.
It remains to be seen if the surprise deal, which came together in just three and half hours of talks, will stand the test of time despite Juncker and Trump’s “understanding”.
She says the buyers are located in both China and overseas and she doesn’t know if they are affiliated with Trump’s official campaign or the Republican Party.
The two leaders faced off over escalating dispute over tariffs and trade barriers that block USA goods.
“It’s encouraging that they’re talking about freer trade rather than trade barriers and an escalating tariff war”, said Rufus Yerxa, president of the National Foreign Trade Council and a former US trade official.
“Dear Donald, let us remember our common history”, a message written on the photo said, according to Juncker.
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Concerns about Facebook’s major earnings miss in an otherwise largely positive US corporate results season did little to support bonds, which lost value as yields resumed their climb higher.
