EU, US committed to complying with trade deal, says US trade chief

Both the European Union and the United States are committed to complying with their trade agreement, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Wednesday after broad new tariff threats over forced labour rankled Washington's trade partners.

After the two sides struck a framework agreement at U.S. ⁠President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf resort in Scotland last July, the EU is still in the process of ratifying the deal, prompting Trump to say he would impose "much higher" tariffs if the ​bloc does not implement its commitments by July 4.

"Both sides are committed to compliance with the trade agreement," Greer told France 24 in an interview. "We think there is a lot of room for compliance on both sides," he added.

Greer's comments came after the Trump administration proposed new tariffs of up to 12.5% on imports from 60 economies, saying they had failed to curb trade in goods made with forced labor, an assertion rejected by its trading partners. The EU was hit with 10% tariffs over the issue.

Greer said the announcement should not have come as a surprise as the investigation had been underway for months, but did not see it holding up the U.S.-EU deal in the European Parliament.

In reaction to the latest tariff announcement, the head of the European Parliament's trade committee, Bernd Lange, said any new U.S. tariffs on EU goods would be unacceptable, dismissing Washington's claims the bloc was failing to curb trade in forced labour ‌goods as "utterly absurd".

Greer said Washington took issue with some elements of the EU Parliament's proposed legislation, including an expiration date for the deal.

"There is still a long way to go for the European Union to comply with their deal. We're happy with the progress that's been made, but we do expect more," he said.

-Leigh Thomas/Reuters