<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class=""><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-11/eu-diplomats-are-said-to-give-green-light-to-u-s-trade-talks" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-11/eu-diplomats-are-said-to-give-green-light-to-u-s-trade-talks</a><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">EU Diplomats Give Green Light to U.S. Trade Talks<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">By <span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;" class=""><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/AFlBzj8L2BQ/jonathan-stearns" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class="">Jonathan Stearns</a></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">4/11/2019<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">European Union ambassadors gave the go-ahead for trade talks with the U.S. as the bloc seeks to keep at bay the threat of American automotive tariffs, according to two officials with knowledge of the decision.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">Envoys from the 28-nation EU approved a mandate for the EU’s trade chief, Cecilia Malmstrom, to negotiate cuts in industrial tariffs with the U.S., the officials said on the condition of anonymity because the deliberations were behind closed doors.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">The green light on Thursday in Brussels came after France won concessions on wording related to the environment and to a previous, now shelved, plan for a broader transatlantic commercial deal. EU ministers still need to give their rubber stamp, which is due on April 15.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">Malmstrom is rushing to begin deliberations with the U.S. on slashing industrial tariffs in a bid to show President Donald Trump progress in enacting a July 2018 political accord that he reached with her boss, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">The deal between Trump and Juncker suspended the threat of U.S. levies on EU cars and auto parts that would be based on the same national-security grounds used by the White House to apply controversial duties last year on foreign steel and aluminum. At the same time, the pact struck nine months ago expressed a desire to resolve the dispute over the American metal levies, which prompted the European side to retaliate with <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-20/eu-retaliation-against-u-s-over-metal-tariffs-to-start-june-22" target="_blank" title="EU Retaliation Against U.S. Over Metal Tariffs to Start June 22" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: blue;" class="">tit-for-tat duties</span></a>.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">The all-clear for negotiations to remove industrial duties is no guarantee that the commercial truce between the EU and U.S. will last.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">As Trump seeks an accord to end his <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-10/u-s-and-china-agree-to-enforcement-offices-in-trade-talks" target="_blank" title="Mnuchin Says U.S. and China ‘Pretty Much’ Agreed on Enforcement" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: blue;" class="">trade war with China</span></a>, EU refusal to include agriculture in the transatlantic talks and an apparent U.S. desire to exclude automotive goods risk sparking renewed tensions.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">And separately, the Trump administration this week announced a plan to impose tariffs on $11 billion of European goods as a result of alleged subsidies to plane maker <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/AIR:FP" title="Company Overview" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);" class=""><span style="color: blue;" class="">Airbus SE</span></a>. The EU reacted by saying it was preparing similar action against American products concerning aid to Boeing Co.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">In a Twitter post on Wednesday, Trump called the EU “a brutal trading partner with the United States, which will change.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">The removal of transatlantic tariffs on industrial goods would expand U.S. exports to the EU by 13 percent and the bloc’s shipments to the American market by 10 percent, the commission said in </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" class="">January. The average tariff on non-farm products is 4.2 percent in the EU and 3.1 percent in the U.S., according to the commission.</span></div></div></body></html>