& Jesse Dimich-Louvet
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EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič says EU standards on agriculture and food are “not up for negotiation”.
In an interview with Euronews, Šefčovič has called for a fair and balanced deal with the United States amid a framework of tariff negotiations.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — the main interlocutor of Commissioner Šefčovič — last month criticised EU regulations preventing some US-made meat and chicken from entering the European market due to the use of hormones deemed unsafe by Brussels.
“The European Union won’t take chicken from America. They won’t take lobsters from America. They hate our beef because our beef is beautiful and theirs is weak,” Lutnick told Fox News in April.
The EU has offered a zero-tariff trade deal with the US, but Washington says this isn’t enough; the White House said it wants better access to the EU’s market.
“I think we’ve been quite clear that we clearly would preserve our regulatory autonomy,” Commissioner Šefčovič told The Europe Conversation.
“If it comes to health and safety issues, clearly these are not up for negotiations,” he said.
Šefčovič also rejected the narrative from Washington that the EU doesn’t take its agricultural produce and said that within the US, there is a move away from hormone products towards more organic produce.
“It’s not a 100% correct statement, because we take their products if they respect the health standards of the European Union, and as far as I’m following the discussions in the US, they’re also pointing in the direction to have healthier food, less chemicals and focus on the organic production,” he said.
The US imposed 25% tariffs on EU cars, steel and aluminium in March and 20% tariffs on other EU goods in April in what the Trump White House called “Liberation Day”.
It then halved the 20% rate until 8 July, setting a 90-day window for talks to reach a more comprehensive tariff deal. The EU and US are now locked in talks due to expire in early July after US President Donald Trump issued a 90-day window to negotiate.
Šefčovič said he was pushing for a fair and balanced deal with the US and said governments of EU member states would not accept any outcome which imposed punitive tariffs on the EU.
The UK’s recent agreement with the US included 10% tariffs. He said member states have made it clear this won’t be accepted.
“A very clear message I got from our trade ministers was that they insist on having a balanced deal with the US,” he told Euronews when asked if he would accept a deal similar to that of the UK.
The EU negotiator now seeks a balanced deal with Washington, saying he is ready to negotiate with US partners.
“We’re already paying 25% tariff for steel, we are already 25% for cars and we really believe that this is simply not fair. So we want to resolve it through the negotiated solutions but of course we are also preparing,” Šefčovič said.
“Alternatively, we would have to protect the European jobs and European companies and therefore we started the consultations on eventual rebalancing measures.”
However, he says the EU stands ready to implement up to €95 billion in countermeasures if negotiations fail to address the trade deficit.
A new series of US products, including aerospace giant Boeing and alcohol products like bourbon, could be targeted with potential EU tariffs.
