EU Hopes for US Deal on Steel, Aluminum Tariffs

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Brussels hopes to strike a deal with Washington later this week to head off the return of steel and aluminum tariffs, the European Union's senior trade official said on Tuesday.

The two sides have been locked in talks ahead of an October 31 deadline on tariffs imposed by former US president Donald Trump on steel and aluminum from Europe.

If no lasting solution is found, the tariffs will come back into force, making this week's EU-US summit a crucial negotiating space.

The hope is that they will announce a deal when EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel meet US President Joe Biden in Washington on Friday.

EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis sounded a cautiously optimistic note.

"We see the global steel and aluminum arrangement and also critical minerals agreement as a deliverable for this summit," Dombrovskis told reporters in Luxembourg.

The EU wants the deal on critical minerals to ensure European companies have access to the United States' markets despite the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Under the IRA, companies must source a certain percentage of critical minerals for electric car batteries from the United States or its free trade partners to be eligible for incentives.

The EU wants the agreement to give the bloc an equivalent status because it has no free trade deal with the United States.

Rare earth elements and minerals such as lithium are increasingly important given their use in clean energy technologies.

But Dombrovskis warned it was not a done deal.

"We're not quite there yet. It still requires some work and bridging some gaps, so in the coming days we can expect very intensive work and hopefully getting those agreements over the line," he said.

Courtesy: www.manilatimes.net