President Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker agreed during a White House meeting on Wednesday to work toward easing trade relations between the U.S. and its European allies, saying their discussion marked an important step toward “free and fair trade.”
“I had the intention to make a deal today and we made a deal today,” Juncker said during an impromptu press conference with Trump.
The two leaders said they decided to “immediately” establish an executive working group that will aim to eliminate all tariffs, barriers and subsidies that harm businesses and consumers in the U.S. and Europe.
“Already today the U.S. and the EU have a $1 trillion bilateral trade relationship. We want to further this trade relationship to the benefit of all American and European citizens,” Trump said after his Oval Office meeting with Juncker.
Both sides also agreed to boost their cooperation on energy imports to Europe and to maintain a close dialogue on standards “in order to increase trade, reduce bureaucratic obstacles, and slash costs dramatically.”
Trump said the EU plans to start buying “a lot of soybeans” in the coming weeks as a goodwill gesture in their ongoing trade talks. That announcement came one day after his administration revealed that it was open to providing emergency relief to American farmers who have suffered because of retaliatory actions by European trading partners and China.
“We will also resolve the steel and aluminum tariff issues and … the retaliatory tariffs,” Trump said Wednesday.
The U.S. leader said his administration will continue negotiations with the EU and intends to stick to the framework outlined Wednesday unless either party breaches the agreement.
“This was a very big day for free and fair trade,” Trump said.
