As widely expected, what the US administration likes to describe as ‘non-tariff barriers’, including EU digital regulations, are holding up signing of EU-US trade deal, the Financial Times reports.
It was always going to be a significant stumbling block. The US administration under Donald Trump has long been critical of the EU’s various digital regulations, which it likes to claim damage the big US tech companies and stifle so-called ‘free speech’. With the trade deal announced in July due to be signed by 15 August, the Financial Times (FT) is reporting that an impasse over European safety regulations is holding up any final statement.
It was clear that when the provisional 15pc tariff agreement was announced with much fanfare on 27 July that there remained many details to iron out. Reuters reached out to the EU, the White House and the US State Department for comment after the FT report emerged on Sunday, but all parties are remaining silent for now.
The headline agreement was reached in July that would see a single 15pc tariff on most EU exports to the US, as opposed to the threatened 30pc tariff, but as with all deals agreed with the US under the current administration, details were sparse, and there was little certainty, although there was relief that any further trade war escalation has been averted in the short term. However, EU-US watchers knew the devil would be in the detail.
FT cites two EU officials who confirm that the “non-tariff barriers” are the cause of the delay. The US has previously said that these include the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which attempts to police the online environment and make it a safer place, requiring the tech giants to do more to combat illegal content such as hate speech and child abuse materials. The US has long said it feels the DSA is unfair as it creates major costs for US companies.
The report also cites a US official who confirms the tariffs on EU cars will not be removed until the final statement is signed – a worry for major car-maker Germany as an executive order was due to be signed by Trump on Friday (15 August) cutting tariffs on cars from 27.5pc to 15pc.
The EU has always said that its digital regulations represent a red line, so it was hard to see how a final statement could be drafted that satisfies both parties in the US-EU trade deal. All will be watching to see how the parties get around this impasse, and if the EU holds strong.
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