The US will not be able to resolve its steel dispute with Europe through a deal that discriminates against other countries, the EU’s trade commissioner has said, underlining the challenge of finding a compromise to end the stand-off.
Valdis Dombrovskis told the Financial Times that the two sides hoped to end the threat of renewed tariffs on EU steel imports ahead of a meeting with Katherine Tai, the US trade representative, on Thursday. Without a deal, the tariffs, lifted temporarily, would return in December along with retaliatory measures from the EU.
But the commissioner insisted that the EU would not sign up to any agreement that breaches global trade standards. Experts have argued that elements of Washington’s proposed solution could unfairly discriminate against imports from some countries.