The United States and the European Union have reached a trade truce on steel and aluminum. The agreement will allow the removal of tariffs on more than 10 billion dollars of respective exports per year, putting an end to a conflict that has dragged on since the days of the Trump administration. The agreement was announced by US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Saturday on the sidelines of the summit of the 20 largest economic powers in Rome.
Biden’s “mending” after three years of conflict
The dispute between the US and the EU began three years ago when in 2018 Donald Trump imposed duties of 25% on steel imports from the EU but in recent months we tried to tighten the time on the negotiations to reach an agreement before the end of year.
In recent days at the G20 of Commerce in Sorrento, EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis had spoken of a meeting with the United States Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, to carry on the negotiations on Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, ensuring that the I work to find a “continuous” agreement. Subsequently, the minister of economic development Giancarlo Giorgetti had clarified that Italy “supports the policy of import duties in Europe of steel” but that, “however, the measure will have to be re-discussed” taking into account that “China and the US are planning to recalibrate tariff policies and probably Europe will also have to update its instruments ”.
The truce torn today is part of the climate of detente between the EU and the US inaugurated by the Biden presidency, even with respect to the more recent frictions between Brussels and Washington. Relations between the two sides of the Atlantic had overheated with the “Aukus” affair, the anti-China axis between the US, the UK and Australia that kept the EU out of the game and unleashed the ire of France by Emmanuel Macron .