BANGOR, Maine — U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose tariffs on European Union cars if the bloc does not drop its tariff on American lobsters, naming White Home trade adviser Peter Navarro the “lobster king” in demand of talks.
Trump, talking at an function with industrial fishermen, also asked Navarro to identify Chinese solutions to hit with tariffs except if Beijing dropped its duties on American lobsters.
“If the European Union won’t drop that tariff straight away, we’re likely to put a tariff on their cars, which will be equivalent,” Trump said.
“Peter Navarro is likely to be the lobster king now,” he extra right after putting the adviser in demand of talks, promising the fishermen the tariffs on American lobsters would be dropped rapidly by the EU.
No remark was straight away offered from the U.S. Trade Representative’s office or the EU’s delegation in Washington. The Chinese embassy had no fast reaction.
Trump’s leading trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, had proposed a mini-offer with the EU very last yr that would have reduced boundaries for U.S. lobsters, but it never ever obtained traction.
Talks among the two sides have struggled in the latest months irrespective of recurring visits by the EU’s new trade commissioner, Phil Hogan. Resources shut to the two sides, talking on condition of anonymity, say they do not assume to make much headway this yr.
Trump has previously produced threats to spot duties on European automobile imports, with the intent of getting superior conditions in the U.S.-Europe trade partnership. He has delayed imposing the tariffs a amount of situations.
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