German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel reiterated his doubts about a free trade deal between the European Union (EU) and United States on Tuesday, saying it would not be possible to conclude negotiations this year.
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Paris threatened to stall further negotiations as long ago as April, but there are national elections due in both France and Germany in 2017, and before the summer, experts were saying that this year – ahead of the USA presidential election – may be the best opportunity to strike a deal.
The EU Commission and USA negotiators began work on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in 2013. And in Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the goal of the Obama administration to complete negotiations has not changed despite the criticism.
As a outcome, France will demand the end to the ongoing negotiations to start again under new grounds, he added.
“We need a clear, clean, definitive halt to negotiations to be able to resume on a good basis”, Fekl said on RMC radio, without elaborating on what conditions would be necessary for new talks.
“The talks with the U.S. have de facto failed because we Europeans of course must not succumb to American demands. nothing is moving forward”, Gabriel said. From Washington’s perspective, he says the TTIP and the TPP are both meant to bolster America’s role as the leading force for setting global trade rules.
But a spokesman for U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told the German magazine: “Negotiations are in fact making steady progress”. “This state of negotiations allows no conclusion”.
They included Italy, whose trade and industry minister said it was essential for Italian exporters that the negotiations bore fruit.
“The current discussions on the treaty between Europe and the United States will not lead to an agreement by the end of the year”, he said.
Gabriel is the chairman of the Social Democrats, who share power with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives.
In line with these, the TTIP is not supported by many authorities in the U.S. Accordingly, in an interview in late 2015, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said that she had broken ranks with President Barack Obama and criticized the proposed TTIP agreement, saying it will not do enough to create American jobs or “advance our national security”.
French President Francois Hollande addresses French ambassadors during a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, August 30, 2016.
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Froman has said Britain’s European Union exit will affect TTIP because Britain consumes about a quarter of US exports to the bloc.
