EU-US Trade Officials Meet in Paris Over Car Tariff Threat

EU and US trade officials are scheduled to meet in Paris on Tuesday amid heightened tensions over President Donald Trump's threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on European Union cars and trucks as early as this week.

The talks, set for the sidelines of a G7 ministerial gathering, will bring together EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Trump announced the potential tariff increase on Friday, stating that the EU had failed to comply with a trade agreement reached last summer. That pact had reduced US tariffs on EU automobiles and parts to 15 percent, lower than rates applied to vehicles from many other partners. In exchange, the EU committed to eliminating tariffs on US industrial goods and improving market access for American agricultural products like pork and dairy.

US officials expressed frustration with the pace of EU implementation. In a CNBC interview on Monday, Greer noted that while a tariff bill had advanced through the European Parliament, the process had been slow and included amendments that could weaken the deal's impact. "After discussing this with our European colleagues over many, many months, the president decided that...