BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd December, 2020) The tariff dispute between the European Union and the United States, which broke out after incumbent US President Donald Trump's administration slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the bloc two years ago, may come to an end after Joe Biden takes over the White House in January.
Since 2018, Trump's tariffs have affected various European products, from French wines and Spanish olives to Italian leather bags and Scottish Whiskey. Ranging from 10-25 percent, the duties also impacted imports of steel, aluminum, airplanes, agricultural products and foodstuffs.
The bloc retaliated with 25 percent tariffs on US motorcycles, whiskey and other items. The sides have since also exchanged duties as part of the long-lasting Boeing-Airbus subsidy dispute.
At the same time, Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan was not primarily aimed at Europe. Its main goal was to limit the economic influence of China, which has been regularly accused of espionage and unfair trade practices by the US in the past years.
Biden has been projected as the victor of the November 3 US presidential election by all major US media outlets but Trump has so far refused to concede to defeat. Trump has sought recounts in several states and filed lawsuits in state and Federal courts, saying illegal votes should be discarded. Some battleground states have said they found no evidence of substantial fraud and irregularities and certified Biden's victory.
TRADE TENSIONS MAY BE COMING TO END
European Commission officials have been discreetly preparing a draft plan to get back to "normal" diplomatic relations with the US after Biden is sworn-in as the next US president. The EU leaders may discuss the plan at the next European Council summit from December 11-12.
The European Commission executive vice-president for economy and trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, has confirmed that the EU made some informal contacts with Biden's team already.
Spokespersons of the European Commission told Sputnik that the draft plan is not yet available but it was discussed on Monday by commissioners.
In a November 26 address to European civil society organizations, Rupert Schlegelmilch, the director of the Americas, agriculture and food safety at Directorate-General for Trade at the European Commission, said that the bloc expected "major improvement" in the relations with the US next year.
"In the last 2 days, president-elect Joe Biden has stated that he would reinvigorate the international alliance with Europe and strengthen the ties with the EU. He had a call with the European Commission's president Ursula von der Leyen. We hope to see a major improvement in the transatlantic relation. We think the tone and discourse will change. It will become more predictable," Schlegelmilch said.
At the same time, Schlegelmilch said that initially, Biden would focus on domestic issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and digital technology, as the trade agenda is not a priority for the Democratic party.
The EU official added that the union started negotiating ongoing tariffs on exports to and from Europe and confirmed that the bloc wants to see the tariffs removed.
"On digital economy taxation, we have a disagreement. The EU and some member states have or are planning to tax the digital giants one way or another. We have always said that it would be after negotiating with our American friends. Before the election, the US put a halt to their participation," Schlegelmilch said, adding that the bloc disagrees with a view that taxes put restrictions on US companies.
The official also said that the commission would make an effort to create a positive agenda and focus on gradually reducing tariffs.
CHINA CHALLENGES BOTH EUROPE AND USA
According to the Financial Times, the EU's draft plan proposes a new post-Trump alliance with the US in light of China's "growing international assertiveness" despite occasional disagreements between Brussels and Washington. The plan reportedly calls for launching a new transatlantic agenda at an EU-US summit in the first half of 2021.
Gilles Lebreton, a French member of the European Parliament, told Sputnik that Trump "opened the eyes of the Europeans about China."
"The Chinese communists in power do not play by the same rules as the free market-economy European and American blocs. Patents are not always respected and dumping is used as a state weapon to promote Chinese products in key sectors over a long period of time. We have seen the Chinese acquire major infrastructures, such as the port of Athens or French airports. We need to be careful not to lose our most creative companies to China," the European lawmaker said.
In addition, Lebreton said that he is skeptical about the European Commission's draft plan on future cooperation with Biden.
"I am skeptical about the scope of the agreement that the European Commission and the US Biden administration could strike. We have not read yet this document that should only be communicated at the end of this week, but it goes in the right direction," the lawmaker said.
Lebreton also said that maintaining a multilateral agenda, "coupled with a reform of the WTO [the World Trade Organization] on settlement systems," is essential right now amid a "rising power of third countries."
The European Commission's plan also proposes that the EU and US join forces to shape the digital regulatory environment, including by adopting common approaches to antitrust enforcement and data protection. The European Union would refrain from taxing the GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and microsoft) until an agreement is reached. The EU also calls for cooperating on the screening of sensitive foreign investments and working together to fight cybersecurity threats.
There is a separate chapter in the plan that proposes closer EU-US cooperation on the development of COVID-19 vaccines in the framework of the World Health Organization.
"The EU is of course relieved with Biden's supposed election victory and is now hoping for a new spring as Biden makes corresponding announcements. The EU is pretending that Trump was the only problem in US-EU relations," Roman Haider, an EU lawmaker from the Freedom Party of Austria, told Sputnik.
Haider added that the EU's positive attitude may disappear and "the spring feeling will soon be followed by a winter feeling" in light of the approaching economic and social crises in the West.
"Biden will certainly want to get his sheep dry and not make any major concessions," the lawmaker said.
The lawmaker suggested that "old plans" like Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a proposed major EU-US trade deal, will be brought up again, modified and "sold" to Europe as an "important contribution and absolute necessity."
