The European Union has agreed to start negotiations with the United States to head off a trade dispute threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.
EU ministers on Monday authorised the European Commission to work with the U.S. on two deals to eliminate tariffs on industrial goods and to recognise each other’s conformity assessments. The decision to launch negotiations comes after Trump threatened last year to hit the EU with punitive tariffs, especially on the export of cars mainly from Germany, because of the country’s trade surplus with the U.S.
