The European Union and the United States have signed a ceasefire agreement on Trump’s steel tariffs

At the G20 summit in Rome, US President Joe Biden announced a ceasefire on steel tariffs, along with EU Commission Chairman Ursula von der Leyen. The agreement has been widely discussed in recent days by the trade groups of the two countries.

For some time now, Biden has been using the union as a thorn in the side of his predecessor, Donald Trump, to impose the hated 25 percent tariffs on Europeans, 10 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum. So Europe pursued its own retaliatory measures: an additional 25 percent tax on jeans, iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycles, whiskey and other American products.

A Europe postponed raising those penalty rates earlier this year, In the hope of facilitating an agreement with the United States. The deal turned out to be harder than expected. Biden’s domestic agenda focuses on self-employment protection, including the middle class and the steel sector. So a complete fort cannot be drawn by the results of his predecessor Trump.

The first breakthrough came in June. EU and US suspend oldest and most expensive bilateral trade dispute for five years: Fighting between Europe and US Airbus in Boeing. All in all, it was involved in $ 11.5 billion in retaliation.

Europe and the United States now use the same recipe for steel tariffs and European penalties. The ceasefire will stop most import duties on steel and aluminum. The first 3.3 million tons of European steel imported into the United States will not be taxed. On top of that allocation steel is still subject to a 25 per cent tax. A similar deal has been developed for aluminum.

The United States imported 2.5 million tons of steel in 2020, much less than the 3.9 million tons in both 2018 and 2017. “Atlantic trade has returned to pre-tariff levels,” Valdis Dombrovsky insists.

European circles agree that this deal is not a dream solution. This agreement strengthens bilateral cooperation. Valdis Dombrovsky, vice president of the European Commission for Economics and Trade, is already seeing a ‘restoration’ of relations with the United States. The first meeting of the European-American ‘Trade and Technology Council’ was held in September this year, a new advisory body for trade and technology that sets joint rules and standards.

Speaking in Rome, Usula van der Lion, Chairman of the Commission, said, ‘A milestone in our renewed, forward-looking agenda with the United States; Joe Biden spoke about ‘a new era’ in EU-US cooperation.

In this way, the United States puts Europe ahead of China. China is targeting the Airbus-Boeing deal and now steel and aluminum. Both superpowers want to remove excess capacity from the EGL and transform the sector into a neutral climate. Europe and the United States have been given two years to reach an agreement. And let China be responsible for half of the world’s steel production. And since that Chinese steel is mostly made with coal-based electricity, it is nothing but green.