Negotiations between the EU and the United States on a steel and aluminum production agreement will move forward as soon as both sides reach an agreement on EU digital rules, U.
S. Commerce Secretary Howard Latnick said on Monday in Brussels.
After the meeting between Latnik, U.
S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer, and 27 EU trade ministers, Greer highlighted U.
S. concerns that the EU Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act only affect American firms, despite the EU's insistence that it does not discriminate against them.
"Law enforcement practice is quite aggressive," he said during a press briefing watched by Callanish. "Sometimes Complying with the law can be a difficult task. Sometimes it seems to our companies that the boundaries of what is allowed are shifting. The fines can be quite large."
Lutnik suggested that EU trade ministers "seriously think about trying to analyze their digital rules." He added: "If they can work out such a balanced approach, and I think they can, then we will work with them to solve the problems with steel and aluminum and achieve this together. So, this is being discussed."
The United States expects the EU to propose a system of digital rules that they "like" and "understand", as well as resolve outstanding issues. As soon as this happens, "we will be able to attack steel and aluminum, try to create a list and model that will work very well in the European Union and will solve many of these problems in a very positive way," Lutnik added.
European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic said that reducing US tariffs on steel and EU derivatives, as well as combating global overcapacity, are priorities, while the EU's proposal for a new tariff quota system "speaks volumes about how seriously we take this issue."
Derivatives of metal products are of particular importance. "I think this is especially important if you look at the means of production, steel products, where we talk about machines, where we talk about robots. I think we both understand, I would say, that America is striving for industrialization, and most of it is also machinery that is supplied from the European Union to the United States of America. Therefore, I am very glad that we discussed with the Secretary of State how we can actually start discussing the issue of steel and derivatives."
When it comes to exporting steel products, "we are not a problem for each other because we do not export much steel to each other, but we have a common problem, and this is a global oversupply of production capacity, as well
