Trump: No new tariffs during European Union trade talks

President Trump on Wednesday agreed to improve trade relations with the European Union, saying there will be no new tariffs while talks continue.

During a joint press conference with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Trump also said the two sides will work toward “zero” tariffs and subsidies on non-auto industrial goods.

“We will therefore work closely together with like-minded partners to reform the WTO and to address unfair trading practices,” Trump said from the White House’s Rose Garden.

The president announced the creation of an executive working group to carry out a joint agenda with the EU that focuses on improving unfair trade practices such as intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, industrial subsidies, distortions created by state-owned enterprises and overcapacity.

“It will identify short-term measures to facilitate commercial exchanges and assess existing tariff measures and what we can do about that to the betterment of both,” the president noted.

The European Commission president said his intention when meeting with Trump was to strike a deal on trade.

“I had the intention on making a deal today,” Juncker said. “We have identified a number of areas on which to work together.”

Trump said the new phase in trade relations with the EU includes working toward zero tariffs and resolving retaliatory tariffs.

“We have some tariffs that are retaliatory and that will get resolved as part of what we are doing,” he said.

The bilateral trade relationship between the United States and European Union is worth $1 trillion, making it the largest economic relationship in the world, the president said in a tweet following the joint press conference.

“The United States and the European Union have a $1 TRILLION bilateral trade relationship – the largest economic relationship in the world. We want to further strengthen this trade relationship to the benefit of all American and European citizens,” Trump wrote.