Beyond EU meat: Trump to announce beef trade deal with Brussels

United States President Donald Trump is expected to announce later on Friday an agreement to open up European markets to more US beef exports, a person familiar with the deal told the Reuters news agency.

Trump is scheduled to make an announcement at the White House at 1:45pm (1745 GMT), according to a notice from the White House.

The president’s daily schedule, issued late on Thursday night, gave no other details, and representatives for the White House did not respond to a request for comment.

US and European Union officials have been laying the groundwork for talks on a trade agreement, but had faced an impasse over agriculture.

EU sources and diplomats in June said a deal was reached then to allow the US a guaranteed share of a 45,000-tonne European quota for hormone-free beef. Trade uncertainties

But European officials last month said broader trade talks had produced only mixed results. An agreement on beef could, however, ease tensions between the two sides, which are each other’s largest trading partners.

The deal would not change the overall beef import volume and would also still need to be approved by the European Parliament.

Lingering issues also remain in other areas of US-EU trade, including import duties on industrial goods that Europe wants removed, as well as the threat of tariffs on European cars imported to the US.

The Trump administration has been pursuing a host of new trade deals with Europe, China and others. These efforts are part of the Republican president’s “America First” agenda as he seeks a second term in office.

But difficulties in securing final pacts acceptable to all parties have roiled global markets.

European stocks on Friday were battered by Trump’s latest salvo in his ongoing trade dispute with China, after the US president vowed to impose further tariffs on Chinese imports.

– News24 Wire

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