European Commission trade spokesperson Olof Gill told Irish radio that Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic would fly across the Atlantic on Sunday.
European Union Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic will travel to Washington over the weekend ahead of talks on tariffs with U.S. officials on Monday, an EU spokesperson said on Friday.
European Commission trade spokesperson Olof Gill confirmed the trip on Irish radio, telling RTE, “The trade commissioner is going to Washington to try and sign deals; that is what we are focused on,” noting that “all options are on the table should that not lead to a good outcome.”
He went on to tell Ireland’s national broadcaster that one of the major aims of Sefcovic’s trip was to “understand precisely what the outcome the Americans want to achieve is.”
Sefcovic’s trip comes just a day after the EU announced it would pause for 90 days its countermeasures against steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by the United States, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a similar halt to most of his levies on the bloc and a host of other nations.
Friday also saw finance ministers from the bloc’s member states pledge unity in negotiations on a trade deal with the United States during the 90-day window, saying the U.S. levies were more hurtful for America’s economy than for Europe’s.
Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, who was chairing the talks, told a press conference after the meeting in Warsaw that all the ministers had agreed on the need for unity.
“I think it is appropriate to allow the commission to do their work, to engage with member states in private, and then when they outline what their agenda will be, for all of us to work together to find ways in which we can unite in supporting their agenda,” Donohoe said.
The ministers agreed that economic waves called for urgent action to make the bloc’s internal 450 million-consumer market work better.
This could include speeding up the introduction of a digital euro, the creation of the EU’s savings and investment union, and trade diversification.
By Guy Birchall
