© Joshua Roberts / ReutersEuropean Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and US President Donald Trump
Juncker visited Washington on Wednesday to talk trade with Trump, who insisted on reciprocal trade relations with the EU.
"I came to make a deal, and we made a deal today," Juncker said on Wednesday at the White House.
He confirmed that the EU will build more terminals in order to import liquid natural gas (LNG) from the US. LNG has to be delivered by ship to specialized facilities, unlike the natural gas currently being delivered to Europe from Russia.
Trump announced that the EU will be buying "a lot more" soybeans from the US, and that Brussels and Washington will work to eliminate tariffs, barriers and subsidies on "non-auto industrial goods."
US and EU have been in loggerheads over trade after US announced tariffs on steel and aluminum in March, provoking a response from Brussels after they were introduced later. Before the talks with Juncker, Trump has threatened to impose additional penalties on trading partners as he prepares for talks with European officials at the White House.
In a Tuesday morning tweet, he called tariffs "the greatest," saying every US trade partner should either negotiate a "fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs. It's as simple as that."
The US and the EU will also team up to address "unfair trade practices" at the World Trade Organization, Trump said, listing his long-standing complaints about China such as intellectual property theft and technology transfers. Trump has been bashing the World Trade Organization for months sparking concerns that his actions would undermine the global trade.
"We will not go against the spirit of this agreement unless either party terminates this negotiation," the US president said, adding that the next step will be to withdraw US tariffs on aluminum and steel imposed in May, as well as EU retaliatory tariffs that followed.
The two leaders did not take questions from the press.
Comment: Trump's "art of the deal" appears to be working, but when there are clearly cheaper and more reliable gas deals to be had - as Germany is well aware with Nord Stream 2 - why is the EU selling out its citizens in order to appease the US? Is this likely to cause further splits within the Eurozone? Whilst the EU may have rolled over with relative ease, it's unlikely this will be the case with China and Russia:
- Trump's "art of the deal" in play as he proposes removal of ALL EU-US tariffs and end to trade war
- Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is good for Germany, good for Europe, and bad for globalists
- China to reduce tariffs on Indian medicines after Xi-Modi summit - Other members of Asia-Pacific trade agree to similar reductions
- Is Nord Stream 2 the bigger target of the Russian spy poison attack?
- US sanctions with benefits: China ready to take Total's share of Iran's oil company
- Pepe Escobar: The Syria connection to Iran, Afghanistan and China
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