Europe

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union on Thursday called on the Trump administration to resist the urge to impose new trade restrictions on the EU amid the coronavirus outbreak, arguing that the crisis is an opportunity to reinvigorate the trans-Atlantic relationship.

Dan DiMicco, a member of USTR’s chief advisory panel and a longtime adviser to President Trump, said the administration’s trade team is working on business as usual despite complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Export restrictions on medical supplies, which some countries are imposing, will make everyone worse off, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said on Monday, calling on the Trump administration to work toward a global response.

“It’s another chip on the table for the UK to have something to give away and negotiate with us or to strengthen their position in negotiating.”

The EU’s trade chief hopes to make progress on a “mini-deal” when he comes to DC in mid-March.

After a brief stop in Washington, the EU trade commissioner will head to Ottawa.

The United Kingdom is pressing the U.S. to remove its retaliatory tariffs on British products as a show of good faith in the upcoming trade negotiations, UK Secretary of International Trade Liz Truss said on Monday.

European Parliament members this week met with U.S. trade officials and stakeholders seeking answers about whether the U.S. planned to raise its bound tariffs at the World Trade Organization or withdraw from the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, and they said on Thursday they were reassured but not convinced the U.S. would refrain from either move.

The European Parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a resolution supporting aspects of an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development digital tax proposal that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin criticized earlier this month.